Rowing
Cuban single rower Angel Fournier departs today for Italy where he'll observe a training base with a view to participation in the World Rowing Championships, from August 30th to September 6th at Aiguebelette Lake in France.

Fournier, medalist in cups and world championships, will travel with his trainer Juan Manuel Paula this Saturday, the trainer Juan Carlos Reyes and Dr. Rita Martinez, told Angel Luis Garcia, national commissioner of this discipline to local ACN news agency.

According to the program, in the coming days, members of the double short rows (2x), the couples Eduardo Rubio-Adrian Oquendo, and Yuriulvis Coba-Aymee Hernandez, will travel to the same destination and for the same purpose.

The outstanding single rower of the eastern province of Guantanamo is Cuba's main trump card for the Olympics Rio de Janeiro 2016, who could open the medal of the Island at this level.

The best performance of the Cuban Olympic rowing events was obtained by Ismael Carbonell, Arnaldo Rodriguez and Roberto Ojeda, in the double with coxswain in Barcelona 92.

Boxing
A world qualifying tournament of boxing from August 17th to the 22nd will be the Cuban Boxing commitment immediately after winning 6 gold and 4 silver medals at the XVII Pan-American Games Toronto 2015.

Chess
Lazaro Bruzon's variation was the only and the most significant news in Cuban chess after updating the world rankings, published today on the digital site of the international federation.

Judo

After competing in the recently concluded Pan-American Games held in Toronto, Canada, Professor Ronaldo Veitia is watching carefully the special training of 3 of his best athletes, including Olympic and World champion Idalys Ortiz.

Along with Ortiz (+78kg), Yanet Bermoy (52kg) —Olympic and World medalist—, and Onix Cortes (70kg) —runner-up at Chelyabinsk 2014—, traveled to France.

Veitia told local agencies that everything is fine and his athletes are doing their best in France by making good use of the excellent training conditions.

He also said they are waiting for 4 more judokas to guarantee Cuba’s presence in the team event.

Pending approval, Dayaris Mestre (48kg), Aliuska Ojeda (57kg), Maricet Espinosa (63kg), and Yalennis Castillo (78kg) awaits for their turn.

Cuban female judo team should be in France until August 22nd, to travel to Kazakhstan to attend the World Championship. Their goal is to obtain points to improve their positions in the world ranking for the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

Cuban judo ended 1st place in Toronto 2015 with 2 gold medals, 1 silver, and 4 bronze medals.

Special Olympics

From July 25th to August 2nd, the greater Los Angeles metropolis has been rooting for some very special athletes: Around 6,500 of them, from 165 countries, competing during the 2015 Special Olympics World Games, to which Cuba has sent 16 athletes.

The Special Olympics was founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, to "create a world that is not dominated by those who are excluded but by those who are included." Special Olympics has 4.4 million athletes involved around the world, and serves a wide range of people with intellectual disabilities, mostly young but some middle-aged contestants are participating as well in certain events.

The Biennial World Games are the flagship event of the Special Olympics. The 2015 Games is the biggest event hosted in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games. It is the world's largest sports and humanitarian event this year.

Competition is taking place in 25 events at four main hubs: University of Southern California (USC), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Long Beach, and Los Angeles Convention Center. All competitions are free and open to the public.

The sports include: aquatic, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, boccie, bowling, cycling, equestrian, golf, gymnastics, half marathon, handball (a team sport fusing soccer and basketball), judo, kayaking, open-water swimming, power lifting, roller skating, sailing, soccer, softball, table tennis, tennis, track and field, triathlon, and volleyball.

The 6,500 athletes are accompanied by their 2,000 coaches along with 30,000 volunteers and 500,000 spectators are anticipated.