About 20 athletes born in Cuba confirmed for Paris 2024 under other flags | Cuba News 360

Text: Raul del Pino

Photo: Jorge Luis Borges | CN360

We have talked a lot about Cuban sport heading to the Paris Olympic Games, about the long qualifying process since the last event in Tokyo, and how the number of tickets has been increasing gradually in recent months until finally falling below expectations. .

But if it is already a fact that Cuba will go to the French capital with the smallest delegation in the last 60 years, as Inder recently recognized, there is a good chance that the athlete record will be broken – or at least equaled – Antilleans competing under the five rings representing other flags.

After the 22 athletes born in the archipelago who competed in Japan in the summer of 2021 with other delegations, the number for Paris is close to twenty and must exceed it when on June 30 the disciplines that will grant places by ranking reveal their lists definitive.

So far, 15 athletes who will defend the colors of nine nations have been confirmed with passage to France, in addition to two who will do so on the Refugee Olympic Team. Of this still incomplete relationship, the presence of Pedro Pablo Pichardo from Santiago stands out, who became the first Cuban Olympic champion for another country when he won the triple jump in Tokyo 2021.

Precisely, in that specialty, the biggest battle in history is expected between those trained in the jumping school of the Caribbean island, since there could be up to seven who reach the final on August 9 at the majestic Stade de France in Paris.

Pichardo’s main challenger for Olympic gold clearly must be Jordan Díaz from Havana, representing Spain. Both jumpers engaged in a tough fight in the recent European Championship, which Iván Pedroso’s disciple won with a phenomenal jump of 18.18 meters, compared to 18.04 for the naturalized Lusitanian.

They will be joined by Andy Díaz from the capital for Italy, holder of the last two Diamond Leagues, and veteran Alexis Copello with Azerbaijan still has a chance of obtaining the spot. Meanwhile, for Cuban athletics, the silver and bronze medalists in the last world championship, Lázaro Martínez and Christian Nápoles, respectively, will be present, while the youngster Andy Echevarría also awaits his place via ranking.

Another sport that will have a varied Antillean presence is boxing with a promising second part of the dispute between the now Spanish Enmanuel Reyes and the double Olympic champion Julio César La Cruz in the -92 kilos. Likewise, the featherweight Javier Ibáñez aspires to win a medal for Bulgaria in the 57 kilos, the same goal that the nationalized Azerbaijani native from Pinar del Río will pursue Loren Alfonso, who already won the bronze three years ago in the 81 kilos.

We will also see Cubans for other national banners in athletics, judo, wrestling and Greek events, but where they will surely shine the most will be in volleyball, since they are the respective stars of their teams. Such are the cases of Wilfredo León (Poland) and Melissa Vargas (Turkey), both considered the best volleyball players in the world in each sex. Likewise, Yoandy Leal will try to help Brazil return to the Olympic podium.

And in Paris, for the first time, two Cuban athletes will compete in the Refugee Team, with the presence of the champion of Tokyo, Fernando Dayán Jorge from Cienfuegos, in the C-1 at 1000 meters, and the weightlifter from Santiago de Cuba Ramiro Mora who will step onto the platform in the 102 kilos.

Of course, the inclusion of Antilleans in this type of delegation raised a controversy among the island’s ruling party, since they alleged that both athletes do not meet the requirements to qualify in the refugee category, but the truth is that even the Denia discus throwers Cabellero and Yaimé Pérez could also have been part of that selection.

Cubans who will compete for other countries confirmed for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games