Figuerola is honored at the return of Prensa Latina's sports meeting

Havana, November 8 (RHC)-- The Prensa Latina news agency paid tribute to Cuban Enrique Figuerola, the first Olympic medalist in Cuban sports after the triumph of the 1959 Revolution, by launching the 57th edition of the survey to select the best athletes in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2021.

At the agency's headquarters, in Havana's Vedado district, directors of the renowned press agency presented Figuerola (83 years old) with a painting that commemorates his Olympic silver medal in the 100-meter race in Tokyo-64, a feat that won him the poll in its first version that same year.

Figuerola thanked the recognition and recalled that thanks to Prensa Latina Cuban athletes were informed and knew details of their rivals in those years.

Figuerola was accompanied by other Cuban sports glories such as Silvio Leonard, also Olympic runner-up in the hectometer in Moscow-80, hurdler Lázaro Betancourt, runner-up with the relay in Mexico 1968, and the goalkeeper for years of the national soccer team José Francisco Reinoso, silver medalist in the Pan American Games of San Juan 1979.

In his speech, Betancourt recalled how the Cuban Revolution boosted sports to the stellar level at the Olympic Games and showed a book by a U.S. writer who in the 1960s foresaw Cuba's successes in sports.

The winners of the 57th edition of the poll, suspended in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be announced on December 20.

Media from all over the world can participate in the poll - never in a personal capacity - and send their votes for a female athlete, a male athlete and a team with outstanding performance in 2021 before December 17 to the following e-mail address: deportes@prensa-latina.cu.

Among the candidates for the awards are Cuban wrestler Mijaín López, Venezuelan triple jumper Yulimar Rojas, Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson, and the Brazilian soccer team, all Olympic champions in Tokyo.

During the press conference, a photographic exhibition was inaugurated that recreates several transcendental moments of the survey, including the visits made to the island to receive their awards by stars such as Diego Armando Maradona, Silvia Poll, Ana Gabriela Guevara and María Isabel Urrutia, among others.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)