Díaz-Canel sends off Olympic delegation to Tokyo

Havana, July 11 (RHC)-- Proud and committed to their people, Cuban athletes received today the flag they will defend at the Tokyo Olympic Games, during a ceremony held at the José Martí Revolution Square in the Cuban capital.

Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, handed the national ensign to three-time Olympic champion Mijaín López, who will carry it in the Japanese capital on July 23 for the fourth consecutive time, since Beijing 2008.

This time, the multi-time gold medalist will share that privilege with discbola Yaime Perez, who in the Spanish city of Castellon assumed the same role hours before, in a ceremony attended by Gustavo Machin, consul of Cuba in Barcelona.

The young table tennis player Daniela Fonseca and the experienced taekwondoka Rafael Alba escorted the delivery at the base of the monument to the Apostle, where the commitment to victory was ratified with which all will attend the most complex five rings competition in history.

The multi-awarded judo player Idalys Ortiz was in charge of reading the commitment of the athletes who will attend the event.

Shooters Leuris Pupo and Eglys de la Cruz placed a wreath at the statue of Cuba's National Hero, and enjoyed the poem Felicidades mi Revolución, by Indio Naborí, recited by Mirta Lidia Pedros and Alden Night.

An atmosphere of total optimism was breathed in the simple ceremony, which was attended by other main leaders of the Revolution.