HAVANA, Cuba. – On the many occasions when Cuban sports executives appeared before television cameras, especially on the program Round Tablereferring to the preparation carried out by our country’s athletes with a view to their participation in the Paris Olympics, it was always said that the commitment of the Cuban delegation in that event was to be among the first 20 countries in the medal table, in addition to winning five gold medals.
At the end of this great sporting event, we can see that none of these objectives were met. Cuba finished in 32nd place in the medal table by country, and the representatives of the Island only won two gold medals.
By the way, with this meager harvest of titles, Castro’s sport has suffered a 56-year regression, since from Mexico 1968, when Cuba finished without titles and four silver medals, from then on the Cuban representation had always obtained at least three gold medals.
This is clearly an unfavourable result in this Parisian competition. However, everything indicates that the regime will try to cover up the fiasco by praising the fighter’s performance. Mijain Lopez.
It is undeniable that Mijaín’s fifth consecutive gold medal It is a sporting feat, but of course that alone cannot qualify the participation of an entire sports delegation. The phrase “Mijaín’s fifth gold medal is worth an Olympics” is already being repeated on various radio and television channels on the island.
But no one will be fooled by the false image of victory that Castroism tries to present. Almost all the sports in which Cuba took part in Paris now yielded results below the pre-competition forecasts. Shooting, swimming, diving, judo, boxing, table tennis, wrestling, weightlifting, athletics, cycling, rowing, canoeing, and even Greco-Roman wrestling itself – since there was another gold medal, that of Luis Alberto Orta― They disappointed specialists and fans. Not to mention that the island was unable to qualify for any team sport to be present at the event with the five rings.
Particularly negative was the emphasis on judo and athletics, sports in which Cuba once won a good harvest of medals, but which on this occasion left Paris empty-handed.
It is painful to think of the vast resources allocated by the regime to prepare its athletes, which could have been used to satisfy many of the pressing needs of ordinary Cubans, and which in the end resulted in the worst Olympic performance of Cuban sport in recent decades.
On the other hand, it is also painful to note the large number of athletes and coachesborn and educated in Cuba, who are currently performing and succeeding representing other countries. All in the context of the gigantic wave of migration affecting the Cuban nation.
Of course, there will be no shortage of references to the “blockade” and “enemy aggression” to try to justify the poor performances of the Cuban athletes. But we are sure that, when the festivities to welcome the delegation – in fact, Mijaín – conclude, serious analysis will prevail, as such a poor performance in Paris warrants. We will probably witness the falls from grace of several of the current leaders of sports in the country.
What is undeniable is that the poor performance of Castro’s sport in the French capital is a reflection of the chaotic situation that the nation is currently experiencing.
OPINION ARTICLE
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