Lázaro Betancourt

After the end of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 Lázaro Betancourt became one of the country’s pioneers in track and field athletics. Betancourt was a talented sprinter who specialised the 110 metres hurdles and often featured in the Cuban quartet that ran the 4 x 100 metres relay. In 1960 he became the first Cuban athlete to win gold in the sport following the Revolution when he won the 110 metres hurdles at the Ibero-American Championships in Chile. He continued his good form in the event with gold at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games, followed by bronze at the 1963 Pan American Games, and silver in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1963 Summer Universiade.

With his consistent results Betancourt earned himself a place on the Cuban athletics team for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He finished second in his heat in the 110 metres hurdles to advance to the semi-finals, but then finished a disappointing sixth to miss out on the final. In 1967 he competed at the Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics in Mexico, winning silver in the 110 metres hurdles and bronze in the 4 x 100 metres relay.

Betancourt later worked as a consultant for the Cuban Athletics Federation and contributed to the technical commission of the IAAF. For his work he was honoured with the IAAF Veteran Pin in 2003 and was inducted into the Central American and Caribbean Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. Betancourt also co-authored multiple books on sports training and athletics statistics.

Personal Best: 110H – 14.0 (1964).