Cuban Olympiad
inauguration today
WITH a parade featuring representatives of the
participating delegations, the 3rd Cuban Sports
Olympiad is to be inaugurated today in Havana.
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Olympic athletes
Aguelmis Rojas and
Mariela González became the event’s
first champions after winning the
20-kilometer run, setting Cuban records.
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The ceremony takes place at the coliseum at the
Sports City complex, and will be followed by the
start of competitions in 42 disciplines, four of
them exhibition, in venues throughout the country’s
14 provinces and the special municipality of the
Isle of Youth.
The more than 5,000 athletes who will be
competing until May 6 include 1,440 from other
countries and the Cubans, who will be spread out in
regional teams called Occidentales, Centrales and
Orientales.
The first set of medals was awarded the day
before, in a 20-kilometer race that went from El
Cacahual, on the outskirts of Havana, to Sports City.
The first edition of the Olympiad was held in
2002 after Cuba declined to send its delegation to
the 19th Central American and Caribbean games in San
Salvador, given that the Salvadoran government could
not guarantee the delegation’s safety. (PL)
