Rose Mary Almanza

Rose Mary Almanza Blanco (born 13 July 1992) is a Cuban middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres.

Almanza ran internationally from a young age, coming fourth at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics before taking the 800 m title at the Pan American Junior Championships.

She won at the Barrientos Memorial in March 2010 and followed this with a personal best of 2:03.03 to take the silver medal at the 2010 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics.

She ran a national junior record of 2:02.04 in Havana in July and came fourth at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics.

She represented Cuba at the Pan American Games in 2011, 2015, 2019 and won medals at the Ibero-American and Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics.She was world champion in the 4x400 meter relay in Silesia 2021

In 2011, she improved her record further to 2:00.56 and won her first senior regional medal at the 2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, placing second in the 800 m behind Gabriela Medina.

She came close to a medal at the 2011 Pan American Games, but was edged into fourth place in the final.

She began 2012 in strong form, taking silver medals in the 800 m and 4×400 metres relay at the Ibero-American Championships.

A run of 1:59.55 in Havana was enough to gain her a place on the Cuban squad for the 2012 London Olympics.

Almanza continued to perform at a high level in subsequent years.

She set a 1:57.70 personal best in 2015, participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics and won the 800m title in the 2017 Summer Universiade.

By June 2021, Almanza had returned to career-best form in the 800m, running another personal best and world-leading time of 1:56.42 in Ordizia, Spain.