Rose Mary Almanza

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

Career
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.

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.