Havana, Dec 27 (EFE) .- The seven gold medals in the Tokyo Games, the mass defection in baseball and the fifth place achieved in the Pan American Athletics Championships in Cali are the three most important sports news of the year in Cuba.
SEVEN GOLD IN TOKYO
Cuba, with seven gold, three silver and five bronze medals, achieved fourteenth place in the medal table of the Tokyo Olympic Games, an appointment marked by the pandemic. The Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, highlighted when receiving the delegation back in Havana the “sporting feat” of the island’s athletes and considered that the place occupied in each of their disciplines and the titles won are “one demonstration of courage, bravery, commitment and above all dignity “.
The Cuban medals, the best result in the country in twenty years, were contributed by boxing (five medals: four golds and one bronze), Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, as well as canoeing, judo, athletics, shooting and taekwondo.
Cuba thus managed to be in Tokyo ahead of its records of Beijing 2008 (three golds, 10 silver, 17 bronzes), London 2012 (5, 7, 15) and Rio de Janeiro 2016 (5, 2, 4). Cuba has participated in 21 editions of the Olympic Games since its first presence in Paris 1900 and has obtained a total of 235 medals: 81 gold, 71 silver and 83 bronze.
DROPOUT IN MASS IN BEÍSBOL
Cuba’s under-23 baseball team, which finished fourth in the third edition of the World Cup in Mexico in October, returned home with only half of its members after twelve players deserted during the tournament. Many were apparently seeking their fortune in the Major League Baseball (MLB) of the United States, something impossible if they continued to play and reside on the island. They were not the first: in June there had been two other outings during the Cuban concentration for the pre-Olympic tournament of the Americas, played in stadiums in Florida (USA).
Behind these defections is the breaking of the agreement between the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) and the MLB, an agreement that allowed the “safe and orderly” insertion of Cuban athletes in that circuit without losing their residence. The agreement was finalized during the thaw caused by the government of US President Barack Obama (2009-2017), but which the administration of his successor, Donald Trump (2017-2021), annulled when he came to power.
Since last October, baseball, the king of sports in Cuba, has been considered a Cultural Heritage of the Nation, due to its enduring ability to combine sports, entertainment and oral tradition.
LATIN AMERICAN FIFTHS IN ATHLETICS
Cuba finished fifth in the Pan American Games that were held in Cali (Colombia). He entered 212 athletes in the competition and garnered medals in 14 sports, including athletics (9 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze) and wrestling (9 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze). In total, the Cuban delegation disputed 186 of the 321 scheduled events and agreed to 95 title discussions, with which it achieved medals in 30.5% of the metal options that it disputed. The head of the Cuban delegation at this meeting, Osvaldo Vento Montiller, considered the balance of his athletes “very positive”.
“What has been achieved is the result of the will to victory, discipline and commitment to the homeland sustained since the training sessions” and despite the limitations that the pandemic has forced, Vento said. In his opinion, these games have demonstrated the “vitality” and “solidity of the Cuban sports system” despite the “material deficiencies” derived from the pandemic and the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on the island. EFE
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