Canoeing delegation welcomed home at Jose Marti International Airport

Havana, May 31 (JIT) - "We will continue to provide Cuba with all the joy and good results in our competitions," Cuban canoeist Yarisleidis Cirilo, the most successful in the recent World Cups in Recise and Poznan, in the Czech Republic and Poland, respectively.

Visibly happy, the five athletes and their coaches arrived in the homeland, who were received at José Martí International Airport by Raúl Fornés Valenciano, first vice-president of Inder, and Gisleydi Sosa Cabrera, director of international relations.

"I am happy to be back in my country," said the Guantanamo athlete, who won five of the six gold medals won by the island in these European competitions.

The young athlete also thanked, on behalf of her teammates, the confidence and support of Inder to achieve her goals.

Considered by experts of the International Canoe Federation among the athletes with the greatest progression since Tokyo 2020, Cirilo won a pair of titles in Recise, in the C2-200 and C1-200, as well as the silver medal in the C2-500. In Poznan, he won in the aforementioned categories. In the tandem canoe he was always next to Olympian Katherin Nuevo.

José Ramón Pelier and Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Serguey Torres also won gold and bronze in the C1-5000 meters, in order.

Tabiani Diéguez was the other member of the small delegation. He competed together with Pelier in the C2-500, in which their best performance was a seventh place.

The performance of the Antilleans in this tour has been rated as outstanding. The four gold medals in Poznan even represent Cuba's best historical performance in a World Cup, said Alejandro Hamze, president of the Cuban Canoeing Federation.

Their next big commitment will be the world championship to be held in Halifax, Canada, from August 3 to 7.