CARTAGENA, Colombia, July 26 (AFP).— Cuba has waited for nine days, and particularly for the track and field events, to celebrate its Day of National Rebellion by climbing back up to the top of the medals table in the 20th Central American and Caribbean Games Cartagena 2006, and dethroning Mexico.

With four days to go, as predicted to the AFP by Mexican runner Ana Guevara on the 25, "Fidel’s kids" joined their president long-distance, taking the lead from the Mexican team, which had placed itself at the top on the third day of competitions (July 17).

Early in the morning of the 26, as President Fidel Castro was celebrating 56 years of rebellion in the Plaza de la Patria in the historic city of Bayamo (760 kilometers southeast of Havana), the island’s athletes were making their assault on Mexico, whose athletes showed signs of weakening when the track and field events began.

Cuba made its presence felt on the field by taking five of the nine gold medals reserved for this round, in which two new records were set: the first by Cuban Dairon Robles in the 110-meter hurdles and the second, in the queen of sports competitions, the 100-meter dash, by sprinter Churandy Martina, of the Dutch Antilles.

To Robles’ gold medal are added those of Anay Tejeda, who took the gold in the women’s 100-meter hurdles; Yeimer López (45.28 seconds), winner of the men’s 400-meter dash; Alexey Chivas, victory in the decathlon with 7.551 points, and Yudelkis Fernández, who won the high jump with a height of 6.37 meters.

But the footprints of Cuba were not only felt on the track. They also appear in a discipline that historically has yielded great dividends for the island: judo.

To the four gold won the previous day at the opening of the discipline, Cuban athletes added the 63- and 60-kilos in women’s, and the 81- and 90-kilos in men’s.

For Mexico, Wednesday’s meet was a woeful setback to their aspiration to win the Games. Not only did they cede first place, but its gold medal harvest was minimal compared to that of the Cubans.

The Mexicans took two gold medals in tae kwon do with Edna Díaz in the women’s 63-kilo division and Rodolfo Osornio in the men’s 54-kilos in synchronized swimming they triumphed over Colombia and Cuba, while in track they climbed the highest podium with long distance runner José David Galván in the 10,000 meters.

Colombia, for its part, kept its third place in the event thanks to a spectacular high jump (2.19 meters) by the experienced Gilmar Mayo and the extraordinary afternoon of their in-line skaters, who won in the 10,000-meter combined field trials of both genders.

In the women’s division women’s, Silvia Natalia Niño brought Colombia a first gold medal in the 10,000 meters combined, while Nelson Garzón did the same for the men.