A row of shiny cars parked at the entrance of the Ciudad Deportiva, in Havana, caught the attention of passers-by on Wednesday. In social networks, an Internet user shared images of the singular scene with a text that read: “Mercedes-Benz for our Cuban Olympic champions.”
The news was confirmed by the digital site HIT this afternoon, which specified that the delivery occurs thanks to “an agreement of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers.” Cars of various brands, not just Mercedes-Benz, were assigned “free of charge” to “renowned sports personalities,” the publication notes.
Among the athletes benefited are Serguei Torres, Fernando Dayán, Julio César La Cruz, Andy Cruz, Arlen López and Roniel Iglesias, Juan Miguel Echevarría, Maikel Massó and Yaimé Pérez, as well as Omara Durand and his guide Yuniol Kindelán, Leonardo Díaz, Robiel Yankiel Sol and Leinier Savón.
According HIT, the canoeist Serguei Torres, who was the Olympic champion of Tokyo 2020, spoke on behalf of “the stimulated ones” in a ceremony that brought together several officials in the Sports City: “To thank this gesture, turned into reality in the midst of harsh circumstances for the country, means to recognize once again the priority assigned to a sport that owes everything to the Revolution and its undefeated Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz. “
Among the benefited athletes are Serguei Torres, Fernando Dayán, Julio César La Cruz, Andy Cruz, Arlen López and Roniel Iglesias and Juan Miguel Echevarría
Also this time, the taekwondoca Rafael Alba, the shooter Leuris Pupo, the judoka Idalys Ortiz and the wrestlers Reineris Salas, Luis Alberto Orta, as well as the four-time Olympic champion Mijaín López received cars.
A official media of Bayamo He also shared a post with the news. He specified that they were “new cars”, and that the Granma disco player Leonardo Díaz Aldana, bronze in throwing the disc at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, received one of the vehicles. In addition, it was reported that the athlete had received “a Ventus range wheelchair”, donated by the German prosthetic firm Ottobock.
A few months ago, other images of “awards” to athletes generated a wave of memes and criticism on social networks when, back from the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, they received as a stimulus in their community: taro, yuccas, two packages of sausages, a carton of eggs, two bottles of oil, a cake, detergent, deodorant, pumpkin and bananas.
In 2017, a group of Cuban coaches and athletes of eleven disciplines that stood out with medals at the Olympic, Paralympic and World Games, Chinese cars received as a “boost to honor” and recognition of their results.
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