Miguel Díaz-Canel received the last part of the Cuban delegation that participated in the Paris Olympics on the night of this Monday.
The leader walked to the steps of the Air France plane that brought the delegation, holding hands with Leonor, the mother of Mijaín López, who won his fifth gold medal at the Olympic Games.
"Her name is Leonor, like Martí's mother. And I felt proud and happy taking her by the arm to the plane's stairs so she could hug her son, #Mijaín, the five-time Cuban champion crowned in #Paris2024," the leader wrote on X early Tuesday along with images of the event.
As expected, Díaz-Canel did not miss the opportunity to link the reception with the 98th anniversary of Fidel Castro's birth, which is celebrated this August 13.
"They, with the medals of dignity on their chests, are the greatest tribute to the 98 of #Fidel and the greatest joy for a people, blocked and without resources, whose passion for sports has just inscribed another legend on the Olympic podiums of #Paris2024," the leader added in another post where he posed with the athletes who returned.
Mijaín López and the boxer Erislandy Álvarez, both winners of the only two gold medals that the island obtained in the French capital, were responsible for descending from the plane carrying the Cuban flag.
In addition to Díaz-Canel, other high-ranking officials at the airport included Esteban Lazo Hernández and Roberto Morales Ojeda, as well as the National Coordinator of the CDR, Gerardo Hernández.
On behalf of the athletes, Erislandy Álvarez spoke, expressing his gratitude for the displays of support received from Cuba during their participation in the Games.
He stated that although the results obtained were not everything they hoped for, they always competed with courage and the desire to make the Cuban people proud.
On the government side, the welcoming words to the delegation were given by Vice Prime Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo Di Lella, who praised the athletes' performance in Paris, especially highlighting the achievement of Mijaín López.
Perdomo Di Lella emphasized the need to conduct a critical analysis of Cuban sports performance, with the aim of strengthening the athlete training system in the country.
Finally, the delegation was welcomed with a tour through the streets of Havana, culminating in the area of La Piragua.
In Paris, the overall performance of the Cuban delegation reflected the profound difficulties that sports face on the island, mainly marked by talent drain and lack of resources.
Place 32 in the medal tally
With the smallest delegation since Tokyo 1964, Cuba finished in 32nd place in the medal table at these Olympics, with a total of nine medals: two golds, one silver, and six bronzes, marking the island's worst Olympic performance since Mexico 1968.
The result was well below INDER's forecasts - which expected five golds and a place among the top 20 in the medal table - and was far from what was achieved in Tokyo 2020, when Cuba secured 14th place thanks to seven golds, three silvers, and five bronzes.
Despite the failure to meet collective goals, Miguel Díaz-Canel had dedicated a complacent post on X: “Congratulations, dear medalists of Paris 2024. Behind your triumphs, there are no great resources, but there is the immense sacrifice of a people of athletes who have never stopped dreaming of Olympic glory. Like Mijaín, who has been able to touch it 5 times. His courage inspires.”
However, this time the regime can boast that only one athlete left the delegation: the rower Yariulvis Cobas, although days earlier the wrestler Ángel Pacheco and the judoka Dayle Ojeda had left, who were assisting in training the aforementioned champion López and Idalys Ortiz.
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