2024-02-20 16:41:51
Text: Editorial Cuba Noticias 360
Thanks to the option given by the International Olympic Committee, for the first time a Cuban athlete will have the opportunity to become a flag bearer at the opening ceremony of an Olympic Games.
That historic place is assured by the heavyweight judoka, Idalys Ortiz, pending only official confirmation and that, of course, the postponed Olympic Games can be held from July 23.
In March 2020, IOC President Thomas Bach announced that in Tokyo countries will have the option of having two flag bearers at the opening ceremony, a man and a woman.
The Cuban authorities always relied on the unwritten rule of selecting the athlete with the most medals and history to carry the flag, which always fell to a man.
Along with Ortiz, the Greco-Roman wrestler Mijaín López will be appointed for the fourth time, who will go to the Japanese capital to add to Olympic history as the only gladiator with four Olympic titles.
There is time for the Cuban Olympic Committee to officially sign both names, but no Cuban fan has any doubts that Ortiz and López will be the standard bearers, the first from Artemisa, the second from Pinar del Río.
By taking the podium on the tatami in Japan, Ortiz will become the most Olympic-winning Cuban judoka. She won bronze in Beijing 08, gold in London 12 and bronze in Rio de Janeiro 16. López has been an Olympic champion in the last three editions of the Games.
Both also have an enviable track record in world and Pan American championships. Cuban flag bearers in the Olympic Games: Paris 1900: Ramón Fonst, fencing; San Luis 1904: Ramón Fonst, fencing; Paris 1924: Ramón Fonst, fencing; Amsterdam 1928: José Barrientos, athletics; London 1948: Raúl García, basketball; Helsinki 1952: Federico López, basketball; Melbourne 1956: Manuel Sanguily, swimming; Rome 1960: José Yáñez, wrestling; Tokyo 1964: Ernesto Varona, weights; Mexico 1968: Héctor Ramírez, gymnastics; Munich 1972: Teófilo Stevenson, boxing; Montreal 1976: Teófilo Stevenson, boxing; Moscow 1980: Teófilo Stevenson, boxing; Barcelona 1992: Héctor Milián, Greco-Roman wrestling; Atlanta 1996: Rolando Tucker: fencing; Sydney 2000: Félix Savón, boxing; Athens 2004: Iván Pedroso, athletics; Beijing 2008: Mijaín López, Greco-Roman wrestling; London 2012: Mijaín López, Greco-Roman wrestling; Rio 2016: Mijaín López, Greco-Roman wrestling.