Havana, May 18 (JIT) - Finishing among the top 20 places in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and not falling behind the top 25 of the Paralympic competition remains as the defined purpose for the delegations that will represent Cuba in those competitions.

This was confirmed Friday by Jose Antonio Miranda, director of High Performance of Inder, during the press conference in which he gave an update on the preparation of the exponents of the island that will compete in the French capital next summer.

"We have made the analyses and we are aware that those goals must be achieved by winning at least five gold medals in each event," Miranda acknowledged before referring to the complex qualifying process that has been transited and still active in some sports.

So far 36 Cuban athletes have tickets for the Olympic Games to be held between July 26 and August 11. The number should grow, as there are 44 more with options in sports such as athletics, boxing, judo, indoor and beach volleyball, swimming and table tennis.

The executive said that, according to the calculations made, the greatest responsibility for winning medals rests on 19 athletes. "The greatest possibilities are focused on them and that is why they have received differentiated attention. It is worth mentioning that 15 of them have experience in Olympic Games".

Miranda acknowledged how complicated it has been to comply with the planned critical route, but it has been achieved so far despite many setbacks.

"Above all, we have to highlight the political will and the support that the country's top management has given us," he added.

At the same time, he said that most of the participants will complete their preparations in different cities in Europe, mainly in the host country.

He also highlighted the important role played by science as a support to the whole process, which includes the study of possible opponents.

The executive ratified the obligation of all Cuban representatives to arrive in Paris with at least one anti-doping test performed after May 18, which he pointed out as a guarantee for their performances.

Regarding the Paralympic Games - scheduled for August 28 to September 8 - it was confirmed at the meeting that so far 11 Cubans have qualified to compete in five sports, but it is expected that the final number will be between 28 and 32, as there are still several processes to be completed.

The best chances of reaching the podiums of the competition for athletes with disabilities are for 10 competitors, seven of them with previous incursions in multisport competitions at this level.

There are still to be defined possible Cuban quotas in para-athletics, para-badminton, para-shooting, para-cycling, para-judo and para-swimming.