2024-04-02 01:28:09
Text: Raúl del Pino
Photos: RL Hevia
Just on the day that the French government decided to declare a state of terrorist emergency throughout the country, the almanac is only four months away from lighting the cauldron of Paris 2024, the XXXIII Olympic Games of the modern era, where Cuba will arrive with one of the most reserved forecasts of this century.
While the French authorities take all the necessary security precautions after last Friday’s attack on a concert hall in Moscow, in which 137 people died, Cuban sports specialists and directors are preparing the details of the final stretch of preparation for the great event, to which the island aspires to a maximum of five gold medals.
This was made known by the director of High Performance of Inder, José Antonio Miranda, at the beginning of March during the annual review of the governing body of sports activity, in which the Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel participated, who, for his part, He described the experts’ projections as “conservative.”
With that loot, the Caribbean delegation would once again achieve the goal of being among the top 20, like the previous Tokyo 2020 event, when they anchored in 14th place, thanks to seven titles, despite attending with the smallest delegation since 1964. However, the forecasts for that event were not hopeful either and Cuba managed to exceed pre-competition expectations mainly due to the presentation given by boxing, which won four gold medals in the same number of finals.
For the French capital, Inder is focused on the preparation of only 17 athletes, in whom lie the main possibilities of getting on the podium, according to the information provided by Miranda at the time. That group is headed by the fighter Mijaín López, who at the threshold of 42 years old will go in search of his fifth Olympic crown, and is completed by other winners under the five rings such as the boxers Julio César La Cruz, Arlen López, also a Greco player. Luis Alberto Orta and the judoka Idalys Ortiz.
The great hopes of gold for Cuba rest on that quintet, although the forecasts are never 100 percent fulfilled. However, we cannot rule out other figures who will burst onto the Parisian stage with impetus, such as the canoeist Yarisleidis Cirilo, the boxers Saidel Horta and Alejandro Claro, the triple jumpers Lázaro Martínez and Leyanis Pérez, or the veteran gunfighter Leuris Pupo, for only mention another of those identified with a chance of winning a medal.
Until mid-March, the number of tickets from Cuba does not exceed 30, although in the coming weeks that number should increase with the holding of several qualifying tournaments and the granting of places for places in the rankings of different disciplines, including athletics.
The main golden aspirations of Cuba in Paris fall on these consecrated people
It remains to be seen, for example, if the men’s volleyball team will achieve the long-awaited spot in the next Nations League, after it slipped through its fingers last year in the pre-Olympic tournament based in Brazil. Boxing also has one last chance to achieve a complete men’s team of seven fighters. The final count of qualifiers, however, should not be greater than the 69 who traveled to Tokyo.
But even so, except for a major surprise, the medal hopefuls for Cuba already have their passports endorsed for Paris, and all that remains is to hope that they manage to live up to the forecasts. Unfortunately, everything indicates that the Antillean performance in this new adventure under the five rings will not reach that of three years ago and the main reason can be found in the mass exodus of top-level athletes.
The departure from the country of Olympic champions such as Andy Cruz (boxing) and Fernando Dayan Jorge (canoeing) to world champions such as Yoenlis Hernández (boxing) and the discus throwers Denia Caballero and Yaimé Pérez, have colored the Cuban athletic panamora in the latter. Couple of years. And although the Cuban sports movement must be credited for constantly bringing new figures to the surface, they are increasingly younger and have less preparation time to reach the top of their specialties.
Beyond the optimism of the Cuban president and his proposal to “revise” the official Inder forecasts, reality points to austere Olympic Games for Cuba. The key to being able to enjoy them, even though the results are not compared to those of decades ago, will be knowing how to see ourselves reflected in the mirror of each of those athletes, the same ones who train and live in worse conditions than the vast majority of their peers. rivals, but they will always come out to leave the name of their Caribbean island high.