In the Cuban sports movement, women, as Fidel said, have been a Revolution within the Revolution. Sixty-four years ago, none of them had climbed onto an Olympic podium, today there are 54 who have that glory.
Oscar Sánchez Serra – Granma.- Cuba gave Latin America its first female Olympic champion; it also gave it its first female gold medal in judo under the five rings. As if that were not enough, it elevated it to the firmament with the finishing touches of true goddesses, baptized as the Morenas del Caribe. Only one volleyball team in the world, theirs, has won three consecutive titles of the multi-colored rings.
The Cuban woman is an expression of courage and tenderness, of resistance and love, of struggle and victory. Sport has seen her like this, almost dying after a domestic accident that burned practically her entire body, and re-emerging, not like the Phoenix, but like Mariana Grajales in the jungle, Celia and Vilma in the Sierra Maestra, or Haydee and Melba in the heroic Moncada. All of them were Ana Fidelia Quirot, becoming world champion twice, returning to life.
They were in the golden javelin throw of María Caridad Colón, in Moscow-1980, to open the golden veins of South America; on the tatami, with Odalys Revé, in Barcelona-1992, and they finished off together with Mireya Luis, Regla Torres and their teammates, from that year until Sydney-2000, in the unprecedented winning trilogy of the sport of the high net.
We have just seen them fight hard at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In the French capital, Yusneylis Guzmán, with her silver medal, transformed the “Chiqui” from the populous Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre into a giant, as did her wrestling partner, Milaymi Marín, from Cerro, also in the capital, with her bronzed prize, the same medal as Yarisleidis Cirilo, who rode her canoe to the entire region of El Salvador, in Guantánamo.
Liadagmis Povea did not reach the podium, but fought like a lioness for her territory on the triple jump box. There she put in what she did not have, due to the training debt caused by injuries and a long recovery, for a fourth place that Cuba rewards with the highest honors. On the Parisian tatami, Idalys Ortiz, who continues to thrill us as much now as when she climbed to the top in London-2012, said goodbye with her beautiful smile, although she was not present at the awards ceremony.
She saw the bitter face of failure, because she had a bad day, but Leyanis Pérez knows that she can do more, even to see her on the podium in Los Angeles-2028, and in the most demanding world athletics stages. Overcoming it is even more difficult, but she is a woman and she is Cuban, she will do it.
They will continue, and others will arrive that are being formed today throughout the country and in national centers, in order to continue one of the most beautiful stories in the world of sport.
Today, throughout Cuba, we celebrate the 64th anniversary of the Federation of Cuban Women, an organization whose members, according to Fidel, are a Revolution within the Revolution. Their emancipation, the struggle for their rights, their achievement in all spheres of society, are pillars of the victories of their people, and sport is no exception. When the FMC was founded, no Cuban woman had received a prize at the Olympic Games, which began in 1896; today they are a light for Latin America and the world.
From the silver medals won by Violeta Quesada, Miguelina Cobián, Marlene Elejalde and Fulgencia Romay in the 4×100 relay at the 1968 Mexico Olympics to Marín’s bronze medal on August 11 at Paris 2024, 54 compatriots have been awarded in such a demanding setting. To give an idea of their feat, of the 157 representations – from 1896 to 2024 – present in the historical medal table of the Games, only 47 have surpassed, including men and women, the haul of the Cubans.
It is not easy to accomplish so many feats, but in their name and for the glory they have given us, let us embark on the path they forged for us.
CUBAN WOMEN AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Cuban women have 13 gold medals in the Olympic Games.
54 is the number of podiums obtained by women
Of the 206 Olympic committees, this figure is not reached.
161 Cubans under the five rings.
45 is the place of Cuban women in the historical medal table of the Olympics.
There have been 8 sports in which Cuban women have been Olympic medalists.
- Cuba gave Latin America its first female Olympic champion.
- Cuba gave Latin America its first Olympic judo champion.
- Cuba is the only country in the world with a team that has been Olympic champion three times in a row: the women’s volleyball team.
2024-08-26 05:05:04