2024-07-05 12:50:41
Text: Cuba News 360 Editorial Team
Photo: RL Hevia
Cuba will attend the Paris Olympics with the smallest expedition since the 1964 Tokyo edition. Although the final number of qualifiers is still unknown, INDER acknowledged that the Cuban delegation will be around 60 athletes, which represents a figure below the initial forecasts and even lower than the summer event held three years ago, also in the Japanese capital.
These and other conclusions emerged from the appearance at the Round Table of the High Performance director of the organization, José Antonio Miranda, who despite the reduction of participants ratified the objective of finishing among the 20 places in the medal table by country and confirmed the open secret that Mijaín López and Idalys Ortiz will act as standard-bearers.
“We will go with small delegations, but with the aim of demonstrating high efficiency,” he said before explaining that after the men’s volleyball team did not obtain a place, the final number is expected to be around 60-61 exponents in 16 disciplines, some more than those registered in Tokyo 2020.
The inclusion of a team sport was one of the goals that were not met in this cycle, Miranda acknowledged. “We knew that it was a much more demanding qualification process than the Olympic Games themselves and it was not possible,” he said about the recent failure of the volleyball team in the Nations League.
So far, only 46 athletes have secured their tickets and the rest will be announced on June 30, when the places in the sports that will grant tickets based on their respective rankings will be made official.
Athletics should be one of the most successful in this way, but it should still remain below the 20 that competed in Tokyo. Likewise, boxing and judo, two historic Cuban sports under the five rings, also failed to perform and will go with significantly reduced teams.
Not to lose his custom, Miranda attributed these disappointments to the complex situation the country is experiencing, aggravated by the effects of the dispute between the island’s government and the United States, and emphasized how difficult it has been to complete the Olympic cycle in the midst of this context.
In this regard, he stated that “all those who have qualified are guaranteed to complete the final stage of their preparation in Europe and, despite the economic difficulties, we have managed to participate in the events we needed.”
Also, at another point in the aforementioned television program, he announced that wrestler Mijaín López will repeat for the sixth time as flag bearer of the Cuban delegation, this time accompanied by judoka Idalys Ortiz, while sprinter Omara Durand and long jumper Robiel Yankiel Sol will have the privilege of participating in the competition for athletes with disabilities.