There are many variables that have marked the course of our sports movement in a year X. The celebration of multiple events, performances of athletes, solid steps at the base and in sports education …
In 2020 the fight was against a greater enemy and of unquestionable power: the coronavirus pandemic. Imagine that as of April his scourge was so voracious that muscle activity was forced to suspend or readjust its competitive calendar to the highest level.
Cuba was not exempt from this “shock wave”, and accordingly
With this, the highest authorities of Inder deployed their actions directed at all fronts.
The center of attention
Unquestionably, the Tokyo Olympics is the event that is the center of attention. Its postponement, the fact that it was even hanging by a thread, and the impasse for almost eight months that many disciplines had in our country forced all knowledge to reinvent itself.
Without counting on many occasions with all the means to complete training sessions at a distance and at home, the short-listed Cubans once again proved their worth.
Sessions electronically; support and attention to the psychological component with specialists from that department belonging to the Institute of Sports Medicine; effort and responsibility not to move away from the physical form that was possessed …
Thus, the months went by until from September the disciplines most committed to obtaining medals in the Japanese capital began to concentrate.
We talked about wrestling, boxing, athletics (currently his spine develops a base in Montefredo, Portugal), and judo. Which moved to provinces with a more favorable epidemiological situation, and with strict rigor in complying with health protocols.
Not to mention that specialists, professionals, service and support personnel, and Bachelor’s degree students in Physical Culture provided their contribution in the direct fight against Covid-19.
Back to our key athletes in Tokyo, the combat specialties developed finery that became true domestic thermometers, in the absence of blanks.
Fighters, gladiators, judokas, all set out to demonstrate to what extent they were able to take advantage of the months of competitive inactivity and their respective subsequent training bases.
In the case of judo, after having a more punctual examination at the Pan American sport in Guadalajara, Mexico (November), which contributed important points to the Olympic qualification rankings.
By the way, up to this minute, there are 41 classified to the lands of the Rising Sun, at the rate of athletics (14), wrestling (12), sports shooting (5), boating (4), artistic gymnastics and pentathlon (2 each ), taekwondo and cycling (1).
A figure that the highest authorities of Inder estimate is around a hundred, if ultimately baseball as the only collective discipline manages to make the grade.
The process has been unique, rugged and we will still have to wait to see how it continues when 2021 starts, especially when the regrowth has taken on an unsuspected force in Europe and America, the main potential qualifying scenarios that remain to be developed.
You cannot turn your back on the objective reality that has characterized and surrounds us. A final brushstroke:
The super complete of the Greco-Roman style Ángel Pacheco was designated the rookie of the year in that sport, since there was no selection of the best athletes. Only his excellent performance in the continental tournament of that sport earned him such status.
Contracts and virtual fights: escape valves
Undoubtedly, and in the absence of a serious domestic competitive calendar in various disciplines, mainly collective, the policy of hiring athletes abroad has functioned as a true escape valve.
Let’s go to the fact that in 2020 it was only able to develop as an official competitive contest the 60th National Baseball Series.
Neither the Superior Basketball League, the National Football League, and other leagues of a similar category such as volleyball, handball, hockey, water polo, futsal, could take place.
Then, several representatives of these sports remained in the focus of attention of different clubs and in them they had the possibility of continuing with their evolution, not only on an individual level, but also in the acquisition of other visions related to the game as a whole.
In fact, volleyball players such as Miguel Ángel López, Roamy Alonso, Marlon Yant, and others, have experienced growth supported by laudable performances, as have Liván Moinelo, Yurisbel Gracial, Raidel Martínez, Yariel Rodríguez, Jasiel Rivero, Lisván Valdés, Giraldo Carales, handball players. , the cyclist Arlenis Sierra and the tenimist Andy Pereira… to name just a few.
Accompanying this phenomenon has been another associated with the repatriation of several athletes, essentially baseball players, as well as the registration of five legionaries of our soccer in the list of eligible players for future calls with the tricolor army.
Steps that denote slight maturity in the way of sizing this mechanism that contributes to the development of our sports movement.
Another palliative element was the participation in virtual competitions in those disciplines that allowed it. Taekwondo, chess, and weightlifting are among the most prevalent in this emerging variant of confrontation.
Sports teaching
As is logical, the Coronavirus also truncated the school year in the Sports Initiation Schools and that rupture was accompanied by the suspension of the National school games, the main scene of domestic blanking in the children’s categories, as are the youth tournaments for the that fall into that age group.
Personally, I am one of those who think that the development of our sport should not be limited to these mega-competitions. While it is true that the Cuban sports pyramid is not on as solid foundations as it was three decades ago, it is also true that it is urgent to inject motivation, rigorous recruitment and a competitive system at the base. These variables constitute one of the main ones when it comes to being able to later say that there is talent and a quarry to guarantee the replacement of those who are considered sports stars of the nation today.
Cuban sport. A 2020 that is very difficult to summarize and in which inactivity and that adversary with gigantic power and the name Coronavirus has made us look back and reflect on different issues.
