From the moment I saw Jurgen Klinsmann arriving in a white and red 1957 Chevrolet, I knew that the friendly football match between the Cuban and US teams that took place on October 7th was a sign of something more.
It’s less than two weeks now until the 2016 Olympic Games (Aug. 5-21) begin in Rio de Janeiro, and Cuba has before it the challenge of being among the top 20 countries in the medal standings.
For quite some time now, the famous Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym, where almost all of Cuba’s professional boxing champions have come from, has women among its regular trainees. They dream of being able to compete officially in international competitions.
Cuba returned to the Caribbean Baseball Series in February of 2014, represented by Villa Clara. A year later, Pinar del Rio made it to San Juan hoping merely to improve on the terrible image offered by its predecessor…and ended up taking the throne. Now, it’s Ciego de Avila’s turn to represent Cuba, but, unlike on previous occasions, it bears all of the pressure that defending the title secured by Pinar del Rio entails.
Following the debacle of finishing fourth in medals at the Toronto Pan-American Games, Cuban sports look to the Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro from August 5 to 21 this year with some reservations.
Baseball could achieve what diplomacy has failed to bring about, or, at least, that’s what former US manager Joe Torre believes. He expressed his confidence the sport will bring the Cuban and US people closer together.
Despite their incipient nature, the current, more flexible diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States have had multiple repercussions on the island, and one of them has been the increase in famous people interested in visiting the country.
It’s hard to believe that two years have gone by since the new legislation allowing Cuban athletes to sign contracts abroad was announced and that relatively few of those contracts have actually been signed.
The new season starts on August 29th with an inaugural match between last year’s finalists, Ciego de Avila (the champion) and the Isle of Youth. Many questions abound on the future of Cuban baseball.
Cuba’s fourth place at the recently concluded Pan-American Games was as unexpected as it was painful. With 36 gold medals, 20 less than planned, Cuba walked away with the slimmest gold harvest since 1971, when the incredible story of how the island became the United States’ runner-up at these tournaments began to be written in Cali, Colombia.