With the presence of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, the Cuban Paralympic delegation received this Friday morning the flag that it will defend at the Tokyo event, from August 24 to September 5.
To the sensational sprinter Omara Durand and to the swimmer Lorenzo Pérez, Marrero Cruz presented the banner during the ceremony held in the Plaza de la Revolución José Martí.
The also member of the Political Bureau transmitted a congratulatory message from Army General Raúl Castro and the First Secretary of the Party's Central Committee and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. “The leadership of the country and the Cuban people are proud of their Paralympic athletes. . Despite all the interruptions in training, due to the pandemic, the blockade against Cuba, which has implied a greater sacrifice on your part, we are confident that you will make an outstanding performance in Tokyo ”.
Durand and Pérez ratified the collective's commitment to continue among the top 20 of the medal table by countries. In the last edition, Rio de Janeiro 2016, the Cuban Paralympians ranked 18th, with eight titles, one silver and six bronzes.
The athletic oath was in charge of Yankier Sol Cervantes, the youngest parathlete in the entourage, while Leydi Rodríguez (Parapan American champion) and Leinier Savón (Paralympic monarch) were chosen to lay the wreath before the statue of the Apostle.
Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, Secretary General of the Central of Cuban Workers (CTC), recalled that since Cuba has participated in Paralympic championships it has won 39 titles, 27 silver and 29 bronze medals, and urged the new edition: “We wish you the greatest success, convinced that our national anthem will be heard several times in the competition halls, together with our flag, sending the message to the world that Cuba continues firm, defending its dignity, independence and sovereignty ”.
Also present were Rogelio Polanco, member of the secretariat and Head of the Ideological Department of the Central Committee of the Party; Raúl Fornés, acting president of Inder; Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, General Coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) and Alberto Juantonera, head of the Cuban Paralympic Committee.
The Cuban Paralympic delegation will arrive in the Japanese capital with 16 representatives, 12 of them with experience in previous Games. The disciplines in which they will compete are athletics, swimming, table tennis, judo, shooting sports, cycling and weightlifting.
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