Cuban Athletes Return to Havana from Pan-Am Games Toronto 2015
Jose Ramon Fernandez, president of the Cuban Olympic Committee (COC), welcomed on Monday afternoon the last group of Cuban athletes that took part in the XVII Pan-American Games Toronto 2015 held in Canada.
The Greco-Roman style wrestler Mijail Lopez and heptathlonist Yorgelis Rodriguez were the first ones to get off the plane, who descended the stairs with their gold medals and the national flag.
In ceremony at Terminal 5 of the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Fernandez sent the athletes the gratitude of the Cuban people for the successes achieved in the great continental lid in the Canadian city.
“We welcome you for what you are, winning patriots often in unequal struggles waged during these two weeks in Toronto,” said the Cuban sports official, who also referred to the sometimes difficult conditions faced by competitors of the Caribbean nation.
Thus, welcome to the Homeland, dear athletes, welcome to the people that love you and receive you with full affection because they are aware of how much effort you delivered in all this work, said the Cuban sports official.
Fernandez listed the members of the delegation major athletic events developed in Cuba during their stay in Toronto, with emphasis on the X Congress of the Young Communist League and the 62nd Anniversary of the Assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes barracks.
Meanwhile, Yorgelis Rodriguez thanked the people on behalf of his colleagues for their support in the performances of Cuban athletes in the Canadian city.
At the event, members of the latter group, which included executives of the delegation, were given the Medal of Dignity.
Cuba closed its performance in Toronto 2015 in 4th place by countries, after the United States (102-78-81), Canada (77-68-69) and Brazil (41-39-60), respectively.
World Aquatics
The Cuban delegation won experience at the 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships 2015 underway in the Russian city of Kazan, after showing a modest performance, including the divers, with Pan-American medalists in its line-up.
The Olympic champion from Atlanta 1996, Rodolfo Falcon, told Prensa Latina news agency that a medal for José Antonio Guerra and Jeinkler Aguirres, who won gold in Toronto 2015 10-meter springboard was expected.
Reaching medals in Kazan was very difficult, but it really did not do anything right, because both Cuban teams closed in 15th place and could not go to the final. They traveled direct to Kazan from Toronto, but still, their level is higher than the result obtained in Kazan, Falcon said.
Swimmers really have very little chances of obtaining medals in the finals and semifinals on Wednesday, as it is a global event, too high for these very young athletes, he estimated.
The 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships 2015 in Kazan brings together 2651 athletes from 190 countries competing in 75 events from July 24th to August 9th.
Pan American Games Lima 2019
The mayor of the Peruvian city of Lima, Luis Castañeda, received the flag of the Pan-American Sports Organization (PASO), which symbolizes the changing of the organization of the Pan-American Games, whose 7th edition recently concluded in Toronto.
In the closing ceremony, shown on the big screen of the Rogers Centre Stadium, is a video about Peru and the city of Lima, and on stage a series of artistic events about the culture of the South American country, including allusions to the Inca tribe.
Lima will host the Pan-American Games in 2019, after being selected in October 2013 in a vote in which Lima competed with Santiago de Chile, Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela and La Punta, Argentina.
The organizers have already confirmed that surfing will be part of the Games for the first time, to which must be added 28 Olympic sports and 9 Pan American sports, such as baseball, softball, karate, water skiing and wakeboarding, racquetball, squash, cycling BMX, skating wheels and bowling.
The Peruvian candidate city pledged to invest $ 700 million in sports facilities in Lima and the port of Callao, which include several multi-purpose sports centers, a Villa and modernization of the transportation system, which should include the 2nd metro line; the works to be ready a year before the Games, according to the Peruvian Government.
