[Campaign Events] [News from Cuba] [International news and events] [UK Events] [Reviews]
By Anne-Marie García of Granma International
BY gaining four titles in the Athens world championship, the modest Cuban delegation of just 20 athletes obtained the best results in the island's history.
With the additional one silver and one bronze medal, Cuba finished in third place by country, surpassed only by the United States (seven gold, three silver and eight bronze) and by Germany (5-1-4).
Great Britain, a country with six times the Cuban population finished 26th and Russia with a population 26 times larger, finished 9th.
Iván Pedroso, with his 8.42-meter jump, opened the way for his Cuban comrades and, although he failed on various attempts to pass the nine-metrr mark, confirmed himself as the world's number one long jumper.
World high jump record holder Javier Sotomayor delivered a very special surprise by recovering the title he lost in Götenborg, with a super-clean 2.37-metre jump.
Sotomayor, considered by many specialists as the greatest high jumper of all time, more than recovered from his Atlanta defeat and fulfilled his most sacred commitment, to his son Javierito, who had asked him to "jump lots".
Triple jumper Yoelbi Quesada finally gained the title he wanted so much with an impressive new national record of 17.85 metres beating former World cahmpion, briton Jonathan Edwards into second place.
Quesada's feat was complemented by the third place of Aliecer Urrutia, world indoor record holder, and confirmed that, after his serious injury in the world indoor championships, the Cuban triple jumper is the best in the world.
Those who know Ana Fidelia Quirot's character couldn't have doubted her victory in the 800 meters, as after the titles won by her comrades, the Götenborg world champion wasn't going to be left out of the party.
In fact, Ana Fidelia ran a masterly race and neither María Mutola nor anybody else could touch her conclusive final performance. As Ana Fidelia has said herself, in a world meeting the most important thing is to win the title because that goes down in history.
Only hundredths of seconds or centimetres separate a gold medallist from those in second and third places.
Reaching a world final could be referred to as the maximum. We cannot fail to mention Norberto Tellez' tremendous 800-meter race, which put him in second place behind the ";untouchable Dane Kipketer"; or Iván García's fourth place in the 200 meters and the 4x100-meter men's relay, and all the finalists.
Nor should we omit the bad luck that hit the Cuban hurdlers this time around, as Emilio Valle and Anier García were hopefuls for the final race, and the latter for a medal, but an injury put that out of reach.
In a meeting with the national press, President Fidel Castro praised the Cuban delegation's performance in Athens, in particular that of Javier Sotomayor, who had specifically dedicated his gold medal to his country's leader.
Cuba's performance underlines the excellence of its coaching techniques and educational system which is geared to identifying talented youngsters early and giving them every opportunity to excel. Sports facilities in Cuba despite the blockade are still free and plentiful for all to enjoy as a right of citizenship.
Cuba is now exporting its experts who are training other countries' teams in a whole variety of sports. In this way, the Cuban Sports Ministry is maintaining its income independently from the state.