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Cuban sport planning for Beijing Olympics
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-08 09:34
With a mere 12 months and one day to go until the start of the 29th Olympic Games, in 2008 in Chinese capital Beijing, Cuban sport is fully focused on planning strategies for these competitions, local media siad on Tuesday.
"We have a commitment with the Cuban people to send our main stars. It is out of respect for the host nation and for sport as a whole," said Jose Ramon Fernandez, president of the Cuban Olympic Committee.
Cuba, which first attended the Olympics in Paris in 1900, expects 150 to 200 athletes to classify in a variety of sports.
This week Cuba's best canoers are currently competing for a Beijing place at the 36th World Championship in Germany. They include Raydel Ramos and Aldo Pruna, who compete in the individual canoe event; and the Serguey Torres-Karel Aguilar pair.
Cuba's judo stars are preparing to seek their places at the 25th World Championship, which runs from September 13 to September 16 in the Brazil city of Rio de Janeiro.
Cuba's last competition was the 15th Pan-American Games, also in Rio, where the nation took second place with 135 medals: 59 golds, 35 silvers and 41 bronzes. The United States came first with 237 medals.
Cuba's Pan-American wins came in athletics, baseball, boxing, canoeing, judo, wrestling, rowing and volleyball.
Cuba was ninth place in Sydney 2000 with 29 medals but slipped to 11th in Athens 2004. In both competitions it sent 161 athletes to compete in 17 of the 24 sports. Martial arts competitions won the greatest number of medals.
Cubans are already confident they will see the success of veteran judo star Driulis Gonzalez, who won the Pan-American title for 63kg in Rio and has won a medal in every Olympics since 1992.
Another much-mentioned star is hurdler Dayron Robles, a serious threat for China's Liu Xiang, if he repeats his 110-meter time.
In all the Summer Games, Cuba has won a total of 164 medals, 64 gold, 51 silver and 49 bronze.
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