The most special of the medals corresponded to the Greco-Roman style fighter, Mijaín López.
By Raúl Menchaca
TOKYO, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) – Cuba experienced a special day in the framework of the Tokyo Olympic Games on Monday, when its athletes won two gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
The most special of the medals corresponded to the Greco-Roman style fighter, Mijaín López, who once again dominated in the 130 kilogram division and became the first Cuban with four consecutive Olympic titles.
López, 38 years old and 29 with a sports career, seems to have no serious rivals in that discipline and has not yet decided what to do in the immediate future.
The other gold was unexpectedly contributed by Luis Alberto Orta, a fighter also from Greek, but weighing 60 kilograms, who left tough contenders like the Russian Serguei Emelin, who was the favorite in that category, on the road.
Another silver medal fell into the Cuban bag by the shooter Leuris Pupo, who finished second in the 25-meter rapid pistol event, only surpassed by Frenchman Jean Quiquampoix, who had to match the Olympic record of 34 points set by the Cuban at the 2012 London Games.
Pupo, 44, was crowned Olympic champion in that specialty at the event in the capital of the United Kingdom.
The other silver was provided by the young jumper Juan Miguel Echevarría, who, injured in a thigh, scored 8.41 meters, the same distance reached by the Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou, but in fewer attempts.
In that specialty, the bronze went to the also Cuban Maykel Massó, who scored 8.21, also with an injury.
In the women’s album launch, the Cuban Yaimé Pérez, who was not on her best day or had her best heights, reached the other bronze of the Cuban delegation this day in Tokyo.
Before the day, the small Cuban Olympic delegation had a silver medal, won by judo competitor Idalys Ortíz, as well as a bronze medal by taekwondo competitor Rafael Alba.
The results of this day took Cuba from 52 to 19 place in the medal table by delegations in the present Olympic Games, with which he began to fulfill the intention of staying among the first 20 of the medal table.
Cuba brought a delegation of 69 athletes to the Japanese capital, the third smallest delegation in the last six decades and in which for the first time there is no team for a collective sport.
Cuba now places its best hopes on boxers of increasing the medal harvest, as its squad is considered the “flagship” of Cuban sport and having two men in the final and two with bronze for sure, while two others can also secure third place.
Cuba has participated in 20 editions of the Olympic Games, where 1,713 athletes have competed in 29 sports and have won 71 gold, 65 silver and 66 bronze medals, with boxing as the biggest winner.
At the Games of Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, its delegations won medals in 12 sports with 10 titles for boxing, five for wrestling and three for athletics, as well as one each for judo, shooting and baseball.
In the Rio de Janeiro event, Cuba was defended by 123 athletes in 19 disciplines and finished in 18th place in the medal table with 11 medals, including five gold, two silver and four bronze.
