Double Olympic gold medalist in the 400m hurdles (Athens 2004 and London 2012), Felix Sánchez (Super Sánchez), has opened his Sports Academy to raise the level of athletics in the Dominican Republic. The academy is operating from the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center. The track recently was renovated.
Sanchez was born in New York to Dominican parents. He retired from the sport in 2016 after a 20-year sports career. He lived and trained mostly in San Diego, California but took the Dominican sports nationality to compete in the Athens and London Olympics for the Dominican Republic.
In an interview in El Dia, Sánchez explained that whenever he visited the country for vacations he observed the enormous local talent and decided to use his fame to make a difference now that he has retired. He said the goal is to raise the level of Dominican track and field competitors to at least that of the best in the Caribbean – Jamaica, Cuba, Bahamas and Trinidad & Tobago.
He observed the reduced number of elite athletes now competing for the DR – the brothers Luguelin and Juander Santos, Yankarlos Martinez and Mayobanex de Oleo – compared to the hundreds in other Caribbean islands.
He will be assisted by Cuban trainer Emilio Valles at the new academy.
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El Dia
8 August 2017
