Toronto 2015 Para-Pan American Games

Yunidis Castillo and Omara Durand took the show again at Toronto 2015 Para-Pan American Games; their golds and records could not miss the stage at the York Stadium as previous caps in where our disabled athletes have participated.

In such a special day for them, Yunidis materialized her 1st crown of the 6th day while Omara confirmed her excellent condition with their 2nd world record, now with 23.87 sec. in the 200m T12 in the semifinals to beat the 24.24 gotten in the world lid in Christchurch 2011.

The athlete of Santiago de Cuba, Durand, 22 years old and visually impaired, will look for her 3rd gold medal in this event tomorrow.

"Records just come out, no matter the air against, but the important thing is the athlete's shape, the wind was strong in the curve but I actually am in my best form, I knew it, and I'll continue preparing for the World Doha and Paralympic Games Rio de Janeiro 2016," she said before leaving the mixed zone at the York Stadium.

Her partner Castillo, another gazelle of the tracks, already owns 5 Paralympic gold medals and leads the 100, 200 and 400 m T-46, which gave Cuba its 14 gold medal.

In this the 6th competitive day, Cuba also won silver medals by Leonardo Diaz (javelin F56), and Gerardo Rodriguez (judo-73kg), and bronze through Yaumara Milan (shot put F11-12), closing with a total of 14-13-10 when there is only a competitive opportunity for their athletes.

Baseball

The Eddy Martin in Memoriam Baseball Cup will run from today and until August 22nd in Ciego de Ávila province, as a prelude to the 55th National Baseball Series, which begins on August 29th.

The contest will be attended by Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Camagüey, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara and the local team, Francisco Benitez Doval, head of rules and arbitration, told local press.

The Jose Ramon Cepero and Sergio Antunes stadiums will be the venues of the competition, Benitez Doval added.

Shortstop Yorbis Borroto, outfielder Jose Adolis Garcia, 2nd baseman Raul Gonzalez, and pitchers Yander Guevara and Yenier Cano, who were at the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games, already joined the local squad, champion of the latest Cuban baseball championship.

In addition, outfielder Yoelvis Fiss, catcher Osvaldo Vazquez and pitcher Yadir Rabbi, who attended the tournament in Rotterdam, which they won, are also part of Ciego de Avila team.

The realization of this baseball cup since 2011 in Ciego de Avila is a tribute to Eddy Martin, born in Ciego de Avila and considered the dean of sports narrators in Cuba.

Basketball

The 4th day of the 2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship finished with confirmation of the 4 teams that will play next Saturday's Semi-Finals as Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Cuba all did what they needed in order to move on to the next phase.

Cuba will take on Canada and Brazil square off against Argentina to determine the standings of the groups and the Semi-Final match-ups.

The three teams - except for Brazil who were granted automatic qualification to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games - are already guaranteed at the very least a spot in the WOQT if they don't get to automatically qualify by winning the Championship (or finishing second if Brazil win).

Cubans advanced to this stage thanks to an impressive 11-1 mauling of Aruba, followed by a 2-0 victory over Guyana, and a 3-2 win over Antigua and Barbuda.

Soccer

Cuban U-23 soccer team will face off Jamaica in Haiti today, an Olympic qualifying play-off.

"It is a chance for both teams to go the CONCACAF Final Round, so they will be coming all out and we expect a tough game." That's the view of Jamaican Head Coach Miguel Coley, who will guide his charges in their vital Caribbean Football Union (CFU) play-off encounter with Cuba inside the Sylvio Cator Stadium at 3:00 pm Jamaica's local time.

Record of German Navigator Confirmed

The Commodore of the Ernest Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba, Jose Miguel Diaz Escrich, confirmed today the speed record of the German navigator Roger Klüh, on his journey on a speedboat from the US to Cuba.

That achievement meant a journey of one hour and 30 minutes on August 1st, from Key West to Havana in the Apache Star speed boat, along with his crew.
This initiative is part of a series of maritime activities that give a touch of class to both tourism and Cuban sports, including sailing and trips of various ships or racing of small craft.

The Commodore added that after the corrections made the veracity of that record was completed.

The vessel, owned by Klüh, left the dock in the Stock Island Marina Village in the United States, at 10:00 local time, heading to the starting point, from where it departed at 10:15, towards the entrance of the Havana Bay, where Diaz Escrich, took the official time when the Apache Star crossed the imaginary finish line. According to the information obtained by the navigator and pilot of the helicopter of the Apache Star, it was confirmed that the distance traveled by the boat was 110 nautical miles (nm).

During the voyage, the boat reached 90 nm per hour, and the average speed was 73 mn per hour.

Probably due to the collision with some object, the boat suffered serious damage that stopped it on its journey for about 15 minutes. The boat has remained for three weeks in the Hemingway Marina, to the West of the capital, waiting for parts.
The previous record for speed and time between the US and Cuba dates back to 1958, when Forest Johnson, on August 28th of that year, sailed, aboard the boat Tooky, the 254 miles separating Miami from Havana.

During the trip they stopped in Key West, and the journey itself took six hours, 24 minutes and 40 seconds, with an average speed of 42 miles per hour. It took about three hours from Miami to Key West.

IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

The IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 could potentially be the biggest world championship in the 15 editions of the event, started in 1983 and ranks among the world’s leading sport's events.

With one week to go, the final entries indicate that 207 IAAF Member Federations will send representatives to the Chinese capital for the most important sporting event of the year.

The previous highest number of participating federations was 203, at the last championships in Moscow two years ago.

No less than 1936 athletes (1043 men and 893 women) have been entered.

Although the number of athletes that will finally participate in Beijing will be slightly less, as is normal, this figure still compares favorably with the current highest total of 1895 who competed at the 2009 championships in Berlin.

The numbers have been boosted by the IAAF’s innovative system introduced ahead of these championships of inviting athletes who had not already been entered by the deadline of midnight (Central European Time) Monday 10 August, on the basis of them being among the best ranked in their event (apart from in long distance and walking disciplines) in order to bring an event up to an optimum number of competitors as established by the IAAF.

More about the entry system and standards can be read here.

With just one week to go, the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 is expected to set the standard for the sport's future championships, with the world's best athletes going through their paces in the same magnificent Bird’s Nest stadium that was the centerpiece for the 2008 Olympic Games.

As already announced, the Bird’s Nest stadium will be full for all the evening sessions across the nine days, with an audience of 50,000 spectators.