Photo: Prensa Latina

Havana, December 22 (RHC)-- Judoist Andy Granda and canoeist Yarisleidis Cirilo received today the award for Cuba's best athletes in 2022, during a gala held at the New Latin American Cinema Foundation.

Granda won the gold medal at the World Championship in Tashkent and Cirilo, the universal title in the C-2 200 meters in Halifax.

The stellar canoeist thanked the specialized press and the National Sports Institute (Inder) for recognizing her great performance in 2022 and anticipated new conquests for the coming year.

The 10 most outstanding athletes of this year also received their awards, a list made up by Katherin Nuevo and Serguey Torres, both in canoeing, Leuris Pupo, in shooting, cyclist Arlenis Sierra, boxer Julio César La Cruz, judoists Iván Felipe Silva and Idalys Ortiz, and triple jumper Lázaro Martínez (athletics).

Daniela Darriba, Basque pelota player, and chess player Carlos Daniel Albornoz complete the list.

Niurkis Mora, in handball, and volleyball player Jesús Herrera and Alain Román, in softball, also won in collective disciplines.

Meanwhile, canoeing and volleyball received the distinctions for the best individual and collective sport, in that order, and the Baseball5 monarchs received the team award for their title in the 1st World Cup of that specialty.

The celebration had a space to honor the best Cuban athletes in contract abroad, a list made up by Sierra (cycling), together with Miguel Angel Lopez, in volleyball, and the baseball player Raidel Martinez.

In the section of best national and international referees, Jorge Luis Vega (athletics) and Yunior Sosa (wrestling) received their awards, respectively.

Suslaidy Girat (athletics), owner of two gold medals and one silver medal in the 2022 Sordolimpida, led the disabled athletes awarded, seconded by Sheyla Samarian, in parajudo, and Robiel Yanquiel Sol Cervantes, along with nine other non-conventional athletes.

The gala was attended by Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo; the president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, Roberto León Richards; the head of Inder, Osvaldo Vento; Ena Elsa Velázquez Cobiella and Marta Elena Feitó, ministers of Education and Labor and Social Security, respectively.