Cuba remained, with six gold, seven silver and six bronze medals, until this Tuesday, in sixth place among the 26 countries that have won medals, above some favorites such as Canada and only surpassed by Mexico, Brazil, The United States, Colombia and Argentina, in that order, powers in sport in the region.
Although it was known in advance that the initial days would not be of a great harvest for the Cubans, they have been meritoriously installed in that position for several days thanks to the actions, essentially, of the dive (second place with 2-2-1 among only five countries that reached medals, four of those mentioned above except Argentina), canoeing (fourth place with 2-1-0 among 15 countries), judo (second, tied with the United States, 2-2-3) and weights (sixth, 0-2-1)
Cuba’s second place in diving competitions, behind favorite Mexico and ahead of other giants like the United States, Canada and Brazil, sums up a commendable performance by a team that had only a few weeks to prepare. When we get into track and field this Tuesday, continue boxing, volleyball, and if baseball keeps up, the chances of success will expand.
The four golds of the Aztecs in the dive, went to the hands of Osmar Olivera on the one-meter springboard and Randal Willars, on the ten-meter platform. They obtained another pair of medals in the feminine with Alejandra Estudillo and Frida Caterín, winners on the ten-meter platform and the three-meter springboard, respectively. Also, add three silver and one bronze awards.
The Americans only captured a first place, for Quentin Henniger, on a three-meter springboard, along with a silver and three bronzes. In a sport where they have taught, this performance in diving was very weak, to finish third. The same happened to Canada, displaced to the sixth rung along with nine other countries that did not win even a medal, among the 15 participants. Brazil, with a silver and a bronze, finished fifth.
In the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in the Pan-American region, in addition to the United States, Mexico won a bronze in diving, through Alejandra Orozco-Gabriela Agúndez, and had two other failed opportunities to reach the podium, which resulted in that its president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, declared that the occupants of the fourth places would not be forgotten.
The skid of the United States in the dive was now taken advantage of by Cuba, to take the lead. Three of his four participants in the mixed competition (he is not in the Olympic program) took medals in subsequent tests. In addition to Anisley Garcia, Laidel Domínguez, Carlos Daniel Ramos and Luis Cañabate, they were the essential axes of this victory, which according to Anisley “should commit us to train more to promote our sport”.
Cubans are doing a worthy job, when the best is yet to come.
