The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the German Thomas Bach, delivered this Thursday the trophy and a certificate of that organism in recognition of the Cuban Olympic Committee (COC), during the first day of his visit to Cuba.
Bach expressed his admiration for the sports movement of the Caribbean country during the meeting with the president of the COC, former gymnast Roberto León Richards, who accompanied him on the visit to the headquarters of that organization.
The meeting of the executive of the International Olympic Committee concludes at the Hotel Nacional de #Cuba Thomas Bach praises the Island’s results on the Olympic stage and ratifies the support of the IOC as friends and partners. pic.twitter.com/i7GVvCw84A
— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) March 2, 2023
“We are preparing the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but in Cuba they already have the vision for Los Angeles 2028 and that is an example of modern sport,” said the head of the IOC quoted by the sports portal Hit. Bach will be on the island until Friday.
After his arrival, as part of his tour of Central America and the Caribbean, the German manager also attended the inauguration of a multipurpose court donated by Panam Sports at the Ciudad Deportiva de La Habana.
During the ceremony, Bach witnessed exhibitions of sports such as fencing, which led him to compete in an Olympic event during the Montreal 1976 edition as a member of the male cast of the then Federal Republic of Germany. Thus, he won the title of the team competition in the specialty of foil.
The IOC president also received various gifts, including boxing gloves signed by two-time Olympic champions Julio César La Cruz and Arlen López, as well as a combat suit given to him by legendary wrestler Mijaín López, four-time monarch under the five rings .
Bach traveled with a delegation that includes the head of the Pan American Sports Organization (Panam Sport), the Chilean Neven Ilic, who said they are touring eight countries chosen by the IOC head.
Ilic said that they have come to Cuba “because of what it means for the sport, because of the great athletes they have, and the work and efforts they make. He is very happy and so am I because of the meaning of this visit”.
The president of the International Olympic Committee will visit Cuba
On his agenda, the IOC president plans to talk with COC authorities and with Cuban athletes who are preparing to compete in the Paris-2024 and Los Angeles-2028 Olympic Games.
With this visit, Bach continues the tradition of his predecessors in sports, the Spanish Juan Antonio Samarach and the Belgian Jacques Rogge, who were on the island during their respective mandates.
Efe/OnCuba.
