Damián Meriño is a former Cuban gymnast who could have reached the world and even Olympic podiums, had it not been for the era he lived in, when politics played a decisive role. This was evident as Cuban sports, due to a whim, missed the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
It could also have been influenced by some poor management of the coaching team at that time. To put our doubts to rest, I have in front of me the same handsome young man, with an open smile... just a few more years under his belt!, who is now training a group of talented students in Miami.
In Florida, many parents use gymnastics as a recreational activity for their children to engage in a sport, so it's not uncommon to see facilities catering to children as young as six months old, something I was not aware of.
What is Damián Meriño currently doing?
I am currently a gymnastics coach at Tag USA Gymnastics, located in Weston, Miami. I am 52 years old and live in Hialeah. I have been involved in gymnastics since 1999, the year I went to Brazil for a work contract, but not through INDER.
In Brazil, I worked as an athlete and coach until 2014, when I decided to come to the United States because all my family lived here. I was the only one missing. I talked to my wife, and we made the decision to start the paperwork to come over.
Have you ever regretted coming? How were your first steps?
Regret? Not at all, girl. Hahaha. Here in the United States, I am very grateful to my mom, my sister Jackelin, and my brother-in-law Andrés, who lent me a hand when we arrived. They helped us a lot and welcomed me, my wife, and my children, guiding us very well.
At the moment, except for my dad and one brother, everyone lives here. The old man wanted to stay in Cuba. He used to travel with a five-year visa that has now expired, but he is getting older, so my other brother and I are in the process of bringing him over permanently through family reunification or humanitarian parole.
Did none of your children follow in your footsteps?
My son Chris was a gymnast in Brazil and a state champion multiple times. He is Cuban, but he moved to Brazil when he was two years old. When we arrived in the United States, it was quite difficult because my whole family lives in Tampa, but I found a job in Weston, Miami. For a year, I commuted, working all week and going to Tampa on the weekends to see my children and my wife; that’s how the boy was unable to continue his training.
Later, when I was able to bring them to Miami, Chris, who is now 24 years old, returned to sports and participated in several competitions. He reached level 10, but then decided to stop; he didn't want to continue training. Now he is a coach like me here in Weston, and he is studying programming. I also have a daughter, Cecilia, who is 19 years old and studying art and technology (animation) at university. They both mean everything to me.
Let's take a look back at that child who took his first steps on a mat and mastered the rings at the highest level.
My decision to choose gymnastics over other sports came from watching the 1980 Moscow Olympics on television. I was eight years old, and I was captivated by the gymnastics. We were all in the living room of my house, and I started wanting to imitate what I saw; my mom asked me if I liked it, and I told her that I loved it, so she took me to a gymnastics center in Santiago de Cuba, the "Antonio Maceo."
They ran tests on me and said they would let me know. While I was on the corner of my house with some friends trying to imitate what we saw in the Olympics, we were jumping around. At one point, my first coach—who has since passed away—saw me and asked me to take him to my parents, and that’s when I went straight to the EIDE.
I started gymnastics at the age of eight at the EIDE in Santiago de Cuba; I participated in School Games, and when I turned 10, I was recruited for the National Gymnastics School, where I stayed from 1983 to 1990. From there, I moved on to the youth team and then joined the National Team in 1991. I competed in the Pan American Games in Havana, although my sport's event took place at the "Alejandro Urgellés" multipurpose hall in Santiago.
That was thrilling. I, a young boy from Santiago, in my backyard. Do you remember that, Julita? In a team where Casimiro Suárez was still present and where Erick López made triumphant strides, I won the rings and floor exercises. The place came alive after my performances! I have never experienced greater excitement in my life, especially since Cuba won as a team.
Four years later, at the Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, I won my individual medals again on the same apparatus, although as a team, we finished in second place. I remained on the Cuba team until 1996, when I retired as an athlete.
Idols throughout your career
At that time, my idol was Dmitri Bilozérchev, a gymnast from the former Soviet Union, known for his excellent, very virtuous routines that were exceptionally clean and precise. It was a pleasure to watch him perform on all apparatuses. He was an all-around athlete. Today, Bilozérchev is a prominent coach in the United States, and his daughter was an Olympic medalist. Another athlete I loved to watch was the Kazakh who represented the USSR, Valeri Liukin, a double Olympic champion in Seoul '88 and a double world champion in 1987 and 1991.
From Cuba, I admired Casimiro Suárez, undoubtedly the best Cuban gymnast of that time and, in general, alongside Manrique Larduet and Erick López, the most outstanding Cubans in all of history. In addition to Casimiro, I also looked up to Mario Castro and Israel Sánchez, who were from an older generation than mine.
Bilozérchev and Casimiro were my great idols.
In sports, a good coach is very important. How many coaches can you remember who have guided you wisely?
I had the privilege of having several very good coaches, both as individuals and in terms of their technical expertise. First, in Havana, there was Antonio Vázquez, better known as El Tony. Unfortunately, he passed away two years ago in Mexico, where he had done excellent work. After him, I was coached by Emilio Sagré, who is also a wonderful person and currently lives in Mexico, where he has trained many athletes on that country's national team. Another great coach I had was Héctor Ramírez, who also trained Casimiro Suárez. In 1993, he moved to Puerto Rico, and I returned to training with Sagré. Today, Héctor resides in Spain.
The technical side was led by Ángel Franco, an excellent coach and a truly good person. I always had a great deal of respect for him. He passed away here in the United States; I maintain a good relationship with his son. There were also other coaches like Ernesto Izaguirre and Agustín Barcea. Sagré, along with Miguel Calle and Antonio Vázquez, were the youth trainers responsible for developing young talent.
I registered in Cerro Pelado when I was called up to the senior national team in 1988, after the decision was made not to attend the Seoul Olympics. Even though I had won a national event in which everyone participated, I was not considered for the Olympic event. Erick López and I graduated together. Do you remember that? Because you were one of the key figures.
Me?
Yes, in 1988, as a young person, I was not yet part of the National Team, along with Erick. But that year, the Olympic Games were held in Seoul, and we Cubans were deprived of attending because the government decided to impose a boycott on those games, a unilateral boycott, since all the athletes from the socialist bloc participated.
Something that no one understood! Casimiro Suárez could have delivered the best performance by a Cuban gymnast in the Olympics; he could have won a medal... and it was all taken away from him, just like so many others!
So, as a intended relief, the Cuban Olympics were created that year, which I won, even as a junior competitor, against the 21 athletes from the senior team. Additionally, I was crowned in the National Youth Tournament.
Look at the number of talented gymnasts there were: 21 in the senior team with a chance of making it to Seoul, plus another youth selection! And then came that situation you criticized in the news, questioning how, after I won and the way I did, I wasn't among the 21. Furthermore, I compete as a youth for the selection and win the Moncada tournament. Just imagine the issue at hand.
In the end, it was all for nothing because no one went to Seoul due to Fidel Castro's whim.
The Cuban Olympics took place, and I participated, achieving a very good performance, just like José Tejada. I always remember that moment as one of the highlights of my professional life because, at a young age, I was among the top seven of the senior team. Considering that the National Team consisted of 21 athletes: seven regulars and 14 reserves, and I was also on the youth team with its reserves, I found myself, so young, among the top seven of the senior athletes. Can you see that?
To conclude that stage of my life, as a youth I participated in the Youth Friendship Games, which were attended by athletes from the socialist bloc, held in Hungary one year and in Czechoslovakia the next. My best results were a gold medal in the floor exercise and a second place in the rings, while Cuba won a silver medal in the team competition.
I am going to take a moment to interject. It is a pity that after so many years in an elite sport like gymnastics, in which Cuba has managed to carve out a place for itself and earn respect, the country is now neither winning nor participating in the Central American Games. This only highlights the dire state of sports in the island.
Tell me about your life as a gymnast for the National Team. Events, anecdotes, results.
I was on the national team from 1989 to 1996. I competed in all the Moncada tournaments during those years, which, as you remember, were very competitive because top gymnasts from the former socialist bloc participated. At that time, there was a great enthusiasm for gymnastics throughout the country, as it showcased high-quality sport.
World-class gymnastics athletes were coming; the "Moncada" had great prestige, and now they no longer take place. What gymnastics will there be? It helped us a lot; we developed by watching and competing with those giants from the USSR, East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria... who came to train in Cuba. We had a good understanding of how gymnastics was being practiced around the world.
I have already shared my experiences from the two Pan American Games I competed in: Havana and Mar del Plata, both of which I remember fondly. Additionally, there were the long tours in Europe: tournaments of excellent caliber, such as the ones in Moscow, Riga, Berlin, Budapest, and Sofia. That’s how the referees recognized you! This is significant since our sport is subjective. It is nothing like the difficult situation that Cuban gymnasts face today. That is why they either join the circus or emigrate to other countries.
In addition to the continental championships, I participated in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Ponce '93 in Puerto Rico, where I also won gold in floor and rings, in addition to the gold medal for the team. In 1991, alongside the Pan American Games, we competed in the World Championships in Indianapolis, United States. In 1993, I participated in the qualifying Pre-World Championship for Germany 1994, and we qualified for the German event.
Later, I competed in the World Championship in Japan in 1995 and in the inaugural World Championships of Specialties in 1996 in Puerto Rico, where I ranked fifth in the world on rings. I was in second place behind the Italian Jury Chechi, but then, based on the competition structure, I slipped to third. In the finals, I made a mistake on my dismount, leaving me tied for fifth place with Iván Ivankov.
Although you have already somewhat expressed your opinion on the current state of gymnastics in Cuba, I reiterate the question.
Well, regarding Cuban gymnastics, as I mentioned, I left Cuba in 1999 and haven't followed it closely since then. However, I know there are significant deficiencies in terms of sports equipment, as well as other fundamental aspects, such as the lack of competitions, for instance. The direction of gymnastics has unfortunately taken a political turn, much like everything else in Cuba, which has a significant impact. You know that in Cuba, advancement is not based on merit, but rather on one’s political affiliation.
Moreover, there are no resources of any kind on the island. Our sport is very expensive: the equipment is costly, and we always have to stay updated on the latest inventions, as they often lead to better results.
Skills are as essential as training. If the judges don’t see you, if they don’t know you, you’re always at a disadvantage, and in Cuba, gymnasts go straight to the Central American Games, to qualifications. They have no prospects.
Look at what happened to the talented Diorges Escobar, a world-class gymnast who could have attended Paris 2024. They took him on the last train to the World Cup stops so he could accumulate the necessary points for an Olympic spot, and instead of saving money for the athlete and his coach to attend all four competitions, they were accompanied by the commissioner or president—I’m not sure—of the sport... An entirely unnecessary expense! And then... they couldn’t go to Doha, and Diorges wasn’t able to earn the required points! Now, tell me, what incentive does that athlete have other than leaving for the circus or moving to another country?
What can you tell me about what happened to the head coaches of the national teams, Carlos Rafael Gil and Yareimi Vázquez, who were expelled from Cuban gymnastics and have now elevated the Panamanian team in a very short time? All of this occurred because they wanted to do things properly and put the athlete and the team first.
Cuban gymnastics has been silenced; we do not see them competing internationally, and they do not participate. Still, there are gymnasts who, despite all the difficulties, manage to reach or come close to the current level of the sport, like Diorges. However, there are only one or two; a team cannot be formed. From what I have gathered, things are no longer functioning in Cuba.
There is a shortage of coaches and even athletes because everyone is leaving the country. The situation is unsustainable; it's one of survival, and we constantly need to replace the coaches. This makes it impossible for us to achieve our times and any better results on the island.
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