Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, January 6 - Cuba began the new year with 226 athletes qualified for the Central American and Caribbean Games, scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 8 in Santo Domingo.
José Antonio Miranda Carrera, Director General of High Performance at the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER, for its acronym in Spanish), explained to JIT that this is the number validated so far by the organizing committee, an essential step for it to be considered official.
He added that 118 spots were secured in the men's division and the other 108 in the women's, distributed across 17 disciplines, with field hockey (32), baseball (24), and volleyball (24) as those with the largest numerical contribution.
Although he acknowledged the demanding nature of the challenge, marked by facing nations that are better equipped economically and logistically, he reiterated the intention to be among the top three in the standings.
He mentioned Mexico and Colombia as the countries that would pose the greatest opposition, given the level that allowed them to take the first and second positions in the previous version, and he also spoke of the Dominican Republic, because of what its status as host implies.
Miranda added that other athletes who had already qualified for 2025 were shooting (20), fencing (18), wrestling (17), softball (16), canoeing (12), weightlifting (12), and rowing (12).
The remaining spots were filled by diving (8), archery (8), rhythmic gymnastics (7), artistic gymnastics (6), cycling (4), trampoline gymnastics (4), and sailing (2).
He noted that the qualification process will continue in the coming months, allowing the Dominican Republic to determine the estimated number of athletes needed for the third Games of this kind to be held in the Dominican Republic.
At the 2023 San Salvador Games, Cuba fielded 499 athletes (267 men and 232 women) across 36 sports, participating in 356 of the 447 events.
His haul of 74 titles, 59 silver medals and 63 bronze medals placed him behind Mexicans (145-108-100) and Colombians (87-92-65). (Text and Photo: Cubasí)
