07/10/2021 at 6:07 am CEST
. / Havana
Most Cuban delegation The next Olympics will arrive in Tokyo on July 16, although an outpost is already in the Japanese capital, sports officials from the island said on Friday. The flag of the island representation is expected this Saturday in Havana and it has been announced that the five-time Pan-American champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, four-time world champion and three-time Olympic champion, will lead the group. Mijain lopez. López, who was the island’s flag bearer at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, will this time be accompanied by the album’s stellar launcher. Yaimé Pérez, world and Pan American title holder, the first female athlete to wear the Cuban banner at the Games under the five rings.
Cuba registered in Tokyo 69 athletes -37 of them with experience of Olympic competitions- who will participate in 64 events of 15 sports disciplines. Its delegation also includes 38 coaches and 14 delegates.
The vice president of the National Institute of State Sports (Inder), Ariel Saínz, said today on a state television broadcast that Cuba has managed to rank 71 athletes, but only 69 will represent him in Tokyo. “The absences come from triple jumper Jordan Díaz, who decided to leave the delegation in Spain, and gymnast Manrique Larduet, after a technical team assessed his physical condition and concluded that he was not ready to participate in a test of this level ”Saínz explained.
He highlighted the number of athletes classified in athletics (18), wrestling (12), boxing (7) and judo (6), among the disciplines in which the Cubans hope to reach the podium of these Olympic Games, which will begin on 23 July. The relationship is completed by canoeing with 5 athletes, shooting (5), weightlifting (4), table tennis (2), beach volleyball (2), swimming (2), modern pedals (2 ), taekwondo (1), artistic gymnastics (1), cycling (1) and rowing (1). In swimming, the manager clarified that the island had received two wild cards for Elisbet Gámez and Luis Vega, the only ones not to have completed at least one preparation competition before the event.
One of Cuba’s goals is to be among the top 20 nations in the overall medal ranking. Cuba also aspires to win on the podium the 5 gold medals, out of the 11 medals, obtained during the previous edition of the Olympic event in Rio de Janeiro.
Cuba participated in 20 editions of the Olympic Games represented by a total of 1,713 athletes who competed in 29 disciplines and thus won 71 gold, 65 silver and 66 bronze medals, with boxing being the flagship sport.
At the Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics, Cubans won medals in 12 sports and half of the titles achieved: 10 went to boxing, 5 matched wrestling , 3 in track and field and one in judo, baseball and shooting. . At the Rio de Janeiro Games, the Cuban delegation was made up of 123 athletes who accumulated 11 medals (5 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze).
