Guantanamo.- Radio Guantanamo follows the performance of Cuban athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games . With victories and setbacks that mark the performance of the athletes of the Greater Antilles in the world’s largest sporting event.
Yarisleidis Cirilo will propel her canoe to the victory
HARD SETBACK for Cuba: Yariulvis Cobas is ELIMINATED from Paris 2024
Cuban boxer Arlen Lopez imposes rank in Paris
Cuban middleweight boxer (80 kilograms) Arlen Lopez defeated today by unanimous decision the Turkish Kaan Aykutsun and got his ticket to the quarterfinals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Double champion under the five rings in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020, the ambidextrous Antillean, versatile and elusive on the ring of the Arena Paris Nord, imposed his rank in a complex fight against an opponent who debuted in these fights.
Lopez is one of Cuba’s great hopes to climb to the top of the Olympic podium, in a sport where the island has won 78 medals, 41 of them gold, and ranks second by country in the historical medal count.
Undefeated in the next round!
His compatriots Erislandy Álvarez (60 kg) and Alejandro Claro (51 kg), the latter a winner this day over Brazil’s Michael Douglas da Silva, also got their tickets to the next phase, after two-time Olympic titleholder Julio César La Cruz fell in his debut.
The Cuban men’s beach volleyball duo made up of Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo easily beat the Moroccans Zouheir Elgraoui and Mohammed Abicha 2-0 (21-14 and 21-11) in the closing match of the Paris2024 Olympiads.
For the first time, an Antillean duo finished the group stage at the Olympic Games without losing a set, since in 2016 Nivaldo Díaz and Sergio Gonzáles finished with three victories in the same numberof matches, but lost in two sets after two of the matches ended in a tie break.
Now Díaz and Alayo will have to wait for their opponent to be defined in the round of 16. As they finished as group leaders, there will not be one of the favorite teams, although at this level and unpredictable sport, the duo obviously should put a lot of care into any rival.
Arlenis Sierra is already part of Cuba in Paris 2024
Cuban cyclist Arlenis Sierra arrived at the village of the Olympic Games in Paris to join the Cuban delegation with renewed energy.
The 32-year-old cyclist is motivated by the opportunity to face her third presentation in the five rings, now with all the experience accumulated pedaling in top-level events for the Spanish club Movistar, in which she is one of its main exponents.
“Having raced the Giro is a good base. They say that the road is not so hard … but we’ll see that on the day of the competition,” she says with a laugh, sure that it will again be a huge challenge to compete alone against the best on the planet.
The women’s road race in the Parisian event will be contested over 158 kilometers, on a route without prominent hills, a detail that favors the representative of the island.
Arlenis will be the first Cuban with three experiences in an Olympic route. Dania Pérez and Yumari González participated in a couple of races of this type, while Yoanka González and Lisandra Guerra also accumulate three incursions in these races, but in different events.
In Rio de Janeiro 2016, Arlenis crossed the finish line in 28th place, still the best for a Cuban at this level. The Tokyo 2020 course gave her a 32nd place that left her unsatisfied.
She returns now with a great desire to give her fans the best possible performance, and for that she will have to show her best physical conditions, but also the utmost intelligence to successfully overcome the mission of facing the best of the world circuit, who know her and know of her capabilities.
Volleyball: Cuba in the final
The Cuban men’s team defeated the favorite Brazil 3-0 sets to reach the final for the Pan American title.
With scores of 25-16, 25-22 and 25-21, the Cubans made their own the success they enjoyed after overcoming difficult moments due to slight mishaps on the court.
The Caribbean team will have to wait for the winner between Argentina and Chile for the title match this Sunday.
Judoka Ivan Silva says goodbye to Paris 2024
Without being able to put into practice everything he had planned, Cuban Ivan Silva said goodbye today to the judo competition of the Olympic Games, although he pushed his complicated opening bout beyond the limit.
On the tatami, and in his initial presentation at the Arena del Campo de Marte, Silva found out that the strategy designed to face the Kyrgyz Erlan Cherov would not have much future.
As the minutes went by, the opponent made him look obvious to the referee, who started by warning both judokas, and repeated the dose to the Cuban in the face of the greater intensity shown by Cherov, bronze medalist in the most recent world championship.
At the end of the regulation time without a winner, the fight went to the decision by golden point, without much change. Silva never found a way to show more initiative and the third shido came as an inevitable punishment. (CubaSí)
Edited by Liubis Balart Martínez
