With the multi-award-winning wrestler Mijaín López as its standard-bearer, Cuba aspires to win five gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and finish among the top 25 nations in the final standings table.
At a press conference held at the Coliseum of the Sports City in Havana, José Antonio Miranda, Director of High Performance at the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation (INDER), stated that "we have carried out the analyses and we are aware that those objectives must be achieved."
According to JIT's digital page, the official site of INDER, Miranda commented that "the greatest responsibility of conquering medals rests on 19 figures," including monarchs under the five rings like the aforementioned Greco wrestler López, boxers Julio César La Cruz and Arlen López, and judoka Idalys Ortiz, not forgetting the cachet of shooter Leuris Pupo.
"They have the greatest potential, which is why they have received special attention," added the executive regarding a delegation that must include around 75 representatives across more than 10 sports disciplines.
Up to this point, the nation has 37 athletes with tickets for the Olympic event, scheduled from July 26 to August 11. However, the number will gradually increase, as there are 44 other hopefuls who have chances in disciplines such as athletics, boxing, judo, swimming, and indoor and beach volleyball.
In fact, the last one to secure his ticket was table tennis player Andy Pereira, who the day before achieved his goal in the continental qualifier organized at the National Sports Village Videna in Lima, the capital of Peru.
In the final of his qualifying series, the individual runner-up of the Pan American Games in Santiago 2023 defeated Ecuadorian Alberto Miño 4-2 (11-9, 2-11, 6-11, 11-9, 14-12, and 11-7) and secured his third Olympic appearance after competing in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
However, Cuban athletes Fernando Dayán Jorge (canoeing) and Ramiro Mora Romero (weightlifting) were also selected to be part of the refugee team in Paris 2024, after the scrutiny carried out by the International Olympic Committee.
Jorge began competing in international events in 2015. He finished sixth in his first Olympic Games in Rio 2016, but in Tokyo 2020, he reached the top by winning the gold medal in the men's C-2 1000 meters alongside his compatriot Serguei Torres.
The man from Cienfuegos left a training camp in Mexico in March 2022. Something his kayaking partner, Fidel Vargas, imitated. In less than two weeks, both athletes managed to cross the border and step on U.S. soil.
Mora, for her part, holds multiple records in the 89 and 96-kilogram categories.
Three years ago in the Tokyo 2020 program, Cuba concluded in the fourteenth position in the standings, with a total of seven gold medals, three silver medals, and five bronze medals.
Regarding the Paralympics in the French city, scheduled from August 28 to September 8, the Greater Antilles currently has eight qualified athletes, although the final number will be around 30 contestants. Athletes Omara Durand and Yankiel del Sol are among the most representative names of the delegation.
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