Cuba Closes Toronto Pan-Am Performance with 97 Medals

The 17th Pan-American Games Toronto-2015, celebrated in Canada, closed with a spectacular and colorful ceremony.

Without competitors scheduled for the final day of the Games on Sunday, the Cuban delegation closed its performance in Toronto with 36 gold, 27 silver and 34 bronze medals, coming in 4th place in the overall medal table by countries.

Cuba Beats Netherlands in Baseball
Cuba beat the Netherlands 5-3 on Sunday in the discussion of the 1st place of the traditional Rotterdam Baseball Tournament, held in the Dutch capital, to retain the crown won in 2013.

The champions forgot the two previous defeats facing the locals (7-12 and 4-8) and reappeared from the very opening inning eager to make a difference on the board at the Neptunus Family Stadium.

The main figure of the ninth led by Victor Mesa, Lourdes Gourriel, stepped on home plate after hitting a double, supported by a single Yasiel Santoya (leading hitters with average of 567), and Gracial Yurisbel's grounder.

Meanwhile, the locals then matched at the bottom of the 3rd thanks to a ticket granted by Cuban opener and winner Frank Montieth and RBI of Gianison Boekhoudt.

The Cubans immediately decided the game in their favor in the 4th inning with 3 runs thanks to 3 hits of Osvaldo Vasquez, Ariel Borrero and Yoelvis Fiss, in that order, all lately propelled by Jorge Luis Barcelán's double.

Gourriel produced the last run for the Cubans in the 5th chapter with 1 homer, paragraph led by Vásquez with 3 homers and 12 RBIs.

The hosts, also runners-up in the last edition, discounted 1 in the 6th and another one in the 8th chapters, but fell short against Jose Angel Garcia's and Miguel Lahera's stellar pitching, the latter who again saved game.

Bubka Calls for More Participation of Athletes in Pan-American Games

Ukrainian Sergey Bubka, current vice-president of the IAAF and candidate for the presidency of the association, promises to increase the participation of athletes at the Pan-American Games if elected president.

Bubka said that despite the high level of competition currently present in the Pan-American Games, these events can still play a more important role if more sports and nationalities are involved as happens with the Olympics, in which about 20% of the athletes participate in trials athletics, whereas in the games of the Old Continent the figure basically covers 10%.

Bubka, former world record holder in the pole vault, said that if elected as president of the IAAF, he will improve the event with the help of the Uruguayan Julio Maglione, president of the Pan-American Sports Organization (PASO). "We are going to work together with the National Federations to bring Athletics to the top positions in all continental and regional multi-sport events," he said.

The election of the IAAF presidency will be held next month during the IAAF Congress in Beijing, China.