Cuba to debut at Tokyo Paralympics on Thursday, August 26th

Tokyo, August 23 (RHC/JIT)-- Cyclist Damian Lopez, weightlifter Leidy Rodriguez and tennis player Yunier Fernandez will be the first to compete for the Cuban delegation in the 16th Paralympic Games that will be inaugurated on Tuesday, August 24th at the new Olympic stadium in Tokyo.

The Island's debut will take place on Thurday with two medal options through Lopez and Rodriguez, while Fernandez will try to advance in his organization chart.

The 37-year-old strongwoman will seek to surpass her performance in Rio de Janeiro 2016, when she placed sixth.   "This time I feel better prepared and more experienced. I will work to get on the podium," the Toronto 2015 and Lima 2019 Parapan American Games champion told JIT.

An athlete of the 41-45 kg integrated category, Leidy will have to lift more than 75 kilograms to be in the discussion of medals at the Tokyo International Forum, located in the financial heart of this city.

Damian will be in the 3 thousand meters pursuit starting at 11:00 a.m. (local time), and if he advances to the final, he will be looking for the podium around 3:00 p.m.   Classified C1, López will also compete in the 1,000-meter time trial on the track on August 27, and in the road events (time trial and road) on August 31 and September 2, respectively.

The Cuban representation is made up of 16 athletes and is led by five-time sprint champion Omara Durand Elías (T12).  She should be in the finals of the 400, 100 and 200 meters on August 31, September 2 and 4, respectively.

A total of 4,400 Paralympic athletes will compete for the Paralympic podium in 539 events, 272 for men, 227 for women and 40 mixed.

Tokyo is organizing the top event for people with disabilities for the second time in history, having hosted it in 1964. This time it has a great adversary in front of it, covid-19, which has claimed thousands of lives around the world.