The Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris captured all the sporting attention in 2024. The events were a real show for the fans, who once again experienced the athletes’ exploits from the front row after the contained experience of Tokyo 2020, where the pandemic slowed down the popular avalanche in the stadiums. Now, with the stands full in most competitions, the summer competition had a different air and recovered its splendor, without detracting in the least from what was achieved in the Japanese capital three years earlier.
For Cuba, the Games in the City of Light had a special flavor because of the golden closing of two authentic legends of global sport: Mijaín López and Omara Durand. Invincible for the umpteenth time, the wrestler and the runner gave all the glory in the world to the small Caribbean island, which had other outstanding stars, although in general the present event under the five rings showed the many seams of a movement with many uncertainties for the future.
In the Olympic table of medals, Cuba fell to 32nd place with only two titles and nine medals, a quantitatively and qualitatively inferior performance to that of Tokyo and below the expectations and forecasts of the executives. This dose of reality, added to the withdrawal of several leading referents in recent cycles, as well as the decline of important figures and specialties, places Cuban sports facing the defying challenge of reinventing itself and surpassing itself in order to preserve at least the trail of the power that it once was.
Cuba en París 2024, más allá del rendimiento y las urgencias
At the Paralympics, the island did make a leap in quality (it went from 35th to 24th place in the overall table of medals), but half of the titles and a third of all the medals were won by Omara, who will no longer be taking part in the Los Angeles 2028 event. On the way to that event, there is no other Cuban star in sight with the ability to climb onto the podium in multiple events, so the disabled movement will also have to explore new paths to at least maintain the outstanding position achieved in Paris.
Last but not least, in both events we had Cuban participation representing other nations with high-level results. More than twenty athletes born and, in some cases, trained on the island, paraded through the Parisian stages and left a not inconsiderable haul of nine medals, including two titles, one at the Olympics and another at the Paralympics.
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Below we will take a trip through the most relevant stories written by all these Cuban athletes in the City of Light.
Mijaín’s last conquest
No athlete in any discipline had ever won five consecutive titles in the same individual event at the Olympics; no wrestler had ever won five titles in the history of the Games. Unprecedented events, until Mijaín López conquered Paris after mercilessly defeating his four opponents. With the same class and forcefulness as always, the Pinar del Río native extended his summer reign — which began in the distant 2008 in Beijing — and said goodbye to the mats by leaving his shoes right in the center of the competitive stage at Champ de Mars.
Omara Durand and the triple farewell
If we wanted to be as fast as Omara Durand on the track, we could summarize her career in the double of London 2012 and the consecutive triples from Rio 2016 to Paris 2024. Those 11 gold medals in the Paralympic Games place the Santiago native as the best Cuban athlete in history in competitions for the disabled, just as she demonstrated in the French capital, where she shone again alongside her guide Yuniol Kindelán. There was concern about the continuous races, the wear and tear and the risk of injury, but the indomitable sprinter scared away any ghosts by running faster than anyone else in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter flat in the T-12 category (visually impaired). Like Mijaín, she also said goodbye to active sports and we will definitely miss her.
Omara Durand: “Cuando eres la mejor del mundo, todos se preparan para derrotarte”
The suffocating energy of Erislandy Álvarez
It has become customary for someone to come out recharged in the Cuban Olympic delegations and Paris was no exception. If in Tokyo 2020 the wrestler Luis Alberto Orta appeared like a whirlwind to climb to the top, in the City of Light that hurricane of the highest category responded to the name of Erislandy Álvarez, undisputed monarch in the 63.5-kilogram division. The Cienfuegos native imposed a frenetic rhythm of punches against each of his rivals and left no room for any controversial decision by the judges, not even in the grand finale against local idol Sofiane Oumiha, whom he beat from bell to bell.
Jordan Díaz and the most Cuban triple jump battle
The men’s triple jump final at the Stade de France is among the most spectacular moments in Cuban sports in its history, no exaggeration. Four Cubans advanced to the medal discussion and three of them finished on the podium, with the peculiarity that none of the latter represented their country of origin. Jordan Díaz, Pedro Pablo Pichardo and Andy Díaz, three jumpers molded on the hot track of the Pan American Stadium, east of Havana, gave medals to Spain, Portugal and Italy, the nations that welcomed them when they decided to emigrate. Jordan, in particular, offered a colossal show, with three jumps above 17.80 meters and five over 17.25.
Cuba has a Sun
When the flame of the next Paralympic Games is lit in Los Angeles, the Cuban jumper Robiel Yankiel Sol (sun in English) will be only 25 years old, but he will defend in the U.S. city the two summer titles he has won in Tokyo and Paris. It is rare for a 21-year-old to already have two crowns under his belt, something that Robiel Yankiel Sol has achieved thanks to the momentum of his legs and his unbeatable flight in the long jump. After giving the clarion call in Japan, in the French capital he kept his place of honor on the throne after overcoming the resistance of the Chinese Wang Hao. In Los Angeles 2028 he will be the great referent of the Cuban Paralympic movement.
Robiel Yankiel Sol: frenética carrera y salto dorado en París
The consecration of Yunier Fernández
Hands up, eyes closed, tears flowing…. The image of Yunier Fernández celebrating the gold medal of the Paralympic Games is already eternal, one of the most exciting moments of Cuban sports in 2024. The Artemisa native lived his moment of consecration in Paris, where he showed skill, poise and a lot of courage to knock down each of his rivals on the way to the top. In his third Paralympic experience, Fernández accumulated four resounding successes against renowned rivals and became the first Cuban champion of para table tennis in summer events.
Juegos Paralímpicos: título de Yunier Fernández impulsa a Cuba en el medallero
Guillermo Varona: prepare, aim, shoot
Since May of this year, the javelin thrower from Camagüey had launched his candidacy to be among the best Cuban athletes of 2024, since at that early date he won the world crown in Kobe, Japan. The left-hander took the crown in the F-46 category with a throw of 65.16 meters, a record for the competition. That was the prelude to his victory at the Paralympic Games in Paris, where he surpassed his personal record and established a new American record with a throw of 66.14. Varona beat the Indians Singh Ajeet (65.62) and Sundar Singh Gurjar (64.96); the first, owner of the world record, and the other, with a world title on his record.
Jabalinista Guillermo Varona da a Cuba su tercer cetro en los Paralímpicos de París
Oney Tapia, the Cuban who gave Italy a Paralympic title
For most Cuban fans, the name of Oney Tapia has gone unnoticed for years, a deadly sin if we take into account that the Havana native has won four medals at the Paralympic Games, including the title at Paris 2024. Representing Italy, where he has lived for more than 20 years, the 48-year-old thrower reached the top in the F11 discus (visually impaired) category after a high-tension competition, in which he came back during the fifth round with a shot of 41.92 meters. Tapia was a baseball player and emigrated from Cuba in 2002, but in 2011, while he was pruning a tree, a branch fell on his face and affected his eyeballs. It was then that he began to venture into sports for the disabled, winning silver at the 2016 Rio Games and two bronzes (discus and shotput) at Tokyo 2020.
Cuba’s other golden face in Paris
Cuban coaches won a grand total of 13 gold medals in Paris. Raúl Trujillo and Rolando Acebal guided the destinies of Mijaín López and Erislandy Álvarez in the Cuban delegation, but other coaches also left their golden mark with other nations.
In athletics, the name of Iván Pedroso stood out again with the crown won by Jordan Díaz (Spain), while Yassen Pérez led Dominican Marileidy Paulino to the title in the 400-meter dash.
However, it was boxing that had the best results for Cuban coaches. Raúl Fernández and Julián Cedeño led the Chinese women’s team with three gold medals, and Enrique Steiner was one of the men behind the five crowns won by the Uzbek boxers. To top it off, Pedro Luis Díaz guided Algerian Imane Khelif, one of the great stars of the Games, to the top.
And although they did not win gold, other trainers also made their presence felt in the Parisian city. Filiberto Delgado, Jorge González, Néstor Almanza and Arturo Yanes in wrestling, Jorge Pichardo in athletics, Jorge Luis Atencio in judo, and the great army made up of Pedro Roque, Ernesto Aroche, Esteban Cuéllar, Luis Mariano González, Humberto Orta, Joel Soler and Armando Hernández, managed to get their disciples to the podium in these disciplines.
On the other hand, we must highlight the work of Carlos Rafael Gil, who for the second time in history included a Panamanian gymnast (Hillary Heron) in the concert under the five rings.
The taste of the podium and a little more
Climbing to the top of Olympus is the great goal of every athlete. However, sometimes we do not value silver or bronze medals, Olympic diplomas or the simple fact of participating in such a high-level competition in their proper measure. Taking into account the evolution and development of sports, these results are equally transcendental in the modern context.
The Paris Games left Cuba with some outstanding notes beyond the reigns of Mijaín, Omara and company. For example, Arlenis Sierra once again inscribed her name among the female road cyclists. Although she did not come close to the best position achieved by a Cuban in this event, her solo foray among the best in the world is another notable achievement for her career.
Likewise, the inclusion of Reynaldo Espinosa in the semi-finals of the 100-meter dash in Paris was a historic event in the summer event, as no sprinter from the island had advanced so far in the queen event of athletics in the last 44 years. In the same vein, archer Hugo Franco advanced to the round of 32 best in a sport of the highest level and finished in 17th place.
In beach volleyball, Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo went the distance in the group stage and reached the round before the quarterfinals as one of the pairs to beat, but they came up against the Swedes David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, leaders of the world ranking, and could not continue their adventure on the sands at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. However, they made a hard time of their defeat against two 22-year-old boys who, in the end, were crowned in Paris.
Neither can we forget the fourth place in the triple jump of Liadagmis Povea, from Pinar del Río, who spent a good part of the season injured and in the French capital she was just three centimeters away from the bronze medal.
Another who was on the threshold of the podium was volleyball player Melissa Vargas, who offered a scandalous show wearing the colors of Turkey. The attacker scored more than 25 points in four of the six games played, including two with more than 30 points and one (against China) with the incredible figure of 42 points. Unfortunately, the Ottomans lost the bronze when they fell against Brazil.
All these results, although they did not contribute to the table of medals or any ranking, qualify as stories of overcoming and battle in a highly competitive scenario.
Of course, we cannot ignore those who fulfilled their dream of getting on the podium. Particularly relevant were the performances of Yusneilys Guzmán, Milaimys Marín and Yarisleidis Cirilo, who broke barriers and put the name of Cuban women at the top.
Guzmán became the first Cuban woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal, after winning a historic silver in the 50-kilogram division. Following in her footsteps, Marín showed signs of being a bulletproof warrior and took bronze in the 76 kg to seal a memorable and unthinkable performance for Cuba, a country that only a few years ago did not include women’s wrestling in its high-performance program.
For her part, Cirilo also burned the bridges and broke the curse of Cuban women in canoeing at the Olympic Games, where a medal had never been won. Flirting by a matter of thousandths of a second with the best of Paris 2024, the Guantanamo native sneaked onto the podium and showed that her meteoric progression of recent times has not been the work of chance. At 22 years old, she is one of the great Cuban contenders for the podium at Los Angeles 2028.
And the Cuban harvest did not stop there. Wilfredo León, with Poland, was the leading scorer and the best in service in men’s volleyball in Paris, where he won the silver medal. Also in second place, Pedro Pablo Pichardo became the first Cuban triple jumper with two medals in summer events by placing ahead of his compatriot Andy Díaz (Italy-bronze), while Yasmani Acosta (silver) opened the Chilean table of medals in Greco-Roman wrestling after losing in the final to Mijaín.
In other duels between Cubans, Loren Berto Alfonso (Azerbaijan) eliminated Julio César La Cruz in the first fight of the boxing competition, and in the semi-finals, he defeated fellow Cuban Enmanuel Reyes (Spain) to reach the final, where he was unable to win. By the way, in the Parisian rings, Reyes, Arlen López and Javier Ibáñez (Bulgaria) won bronze.
Finally, Rafael Alba went down in history as the first Cuban taekwondo athlete with two medals in the Olympic Games after his bronze in Paris, a similar result to that achieved in wrestling by the stars Luis Alberto Orta and Gabriel Rosillo.
París 2024: Rafael Alba gana bronce y Cuba se sostiene entre los 30 primeros del medallero
Disappointments
The Cuban delegation that participated in the Paris Olympic Games won the fewest medals for a delegation from the island since the 1972 Munich Games. In addition, the two crowns in the French capital represent the fewest since no titles were won in Mexico 1968.
As a global result, Cuba obtained its worst position in the Olympic table of medals since the 1960s and broke a chain of 11 consecutive summer editions finishing among the top 20 in the table of medals. Precisely, that was one of the objectives of the Caribbean delegation in Paris, where they also aspired to obtain between four and six crowns. However, none of the objectives were met.
Cuba en París 2024: nueve medallas y lugar 32, el peor en 60 años
It is true that the precarious economic situation of the country and the very high rates of emigration have hit Cuban sports considerably, but precisely the leaders of the athletic movement set goals that could well be assumed with the available human material.
Unfortunately, disciplines that have traditionally been of strength to the island, such as athletics, boxing and judo, have been far removed from their historical trajectory. World medalists such as Iván Silva, Idalys Ortiz, Leyanis Pérez, Lázaro Martínez and Julio César La Cruz fell early and were unable to fight for a place on the podium. These performances fell short of expectations and left Cuba below forecasts.
Author
Aliet Arzola Lima
