The Cuban weightlifting team received shoes from a Chinese brand as part of the growing sports cooperation between the two countries, according to information shared on social media by the Cuban Weightlifting Federation.
The Asian brand Luxiaojun will officially sponsor the weightlifters. "This initial contribution, which comes from China thanks to the efforts of EPG Camilo Reynaldo Ramirez, National Commissioner and Secretary General of the Cuban Federation, along with the collaboration of Yoani Giniebra Junco and Marifelix Sarria Ruíz, represents an important boost for the development of our athletes and the strengthening of competitive preparation," said the Federation.
The delivery comes at a time when Cuban sports is seeking equipment amid a chronic shortage of materials and is introducing a new legal framework that allows for foreign sponsorship.
The most direct precedent for this type of collaboration occurred in April of this year, when the General Administration of Sports of China donated over 14,000 sports implements to INDER in an event held at the Cerro Pelado High-Performance Sports Training School in Havana.
On that occasion, the Chinese ambassador Hua Xin stated: "I hope these supplies help Cuban athletes train and achieve better preparation for upcoming competitions within this Olympic cycle."
The April donation covered eight disciplines—boxing, table tennis, canoeing, swimming, and gymnastics, among others—although official sources did not specify whether it included weightlifting shoes or identify specific brands.
The legal context that makes formal sponsorship by a Chinese brand possible is the Law 179 of the Cuban Sports System, approved in July 2025 and effective since May 13, 2026, which formalizes for the first time private sponsorship—both national and foreign—in the sports of the island.
Until its approval, any agreement of this kind was made exceptionally and without clear legal backing. Karel Luis Pachot Zambrana, legal director of INDER, clarified that the status of being a national or a foreigner does not limit the possibility of participating in sponsorship activities within Cuban sports.
The first sponsorship contract documented under this new framework was signed in April between the Cuban Federation of Modern Pentathlon and the local brand Venko, a company in the non-state sector dedicated to technical sports clothing.
The delivery of footwear to Cuban weightlifters comes at a delicate moment for national weightlifting. Two athletes from this discipline left the Cuban delegation in Mexico in October, ahead of a qualifier for Lima 2027.
On her part, the weightlifter Marifélix Sarría competed in the World Weightlifting Championship held in Ningbo, China, from October 27 to November 8, where she finished seventh in the overall ranking with 153 kilograms in the clean and jerk, a result that earned her fourth place in that lift.
Cuban sports is facing a severe structural crisis that makes any contribution of equipment more urgent. Cuba finished the Paris 2024 Olympics in 32nd place in the medal standings, with a total of nine medals, its worst result since Tokyo 1964, while between 2022 and 2023, 187 athletes, many of whom were high-performance, emigrated from the country.
Gisleydi Sosa, Director of International Relations at INDER, summarized the scope of collaboration with China by describing it as something that "goes beyond sports equipment and articles: it is a manifestation of solidarity and trust between two brotherly peoples."
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