News05 Dec 2005


Spectacular Gala marks Centenary of Cuban athletics

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The Gala show, ‘the Centennial of Cuban athletics’ (© Javier Clavelo Robinson)

Last weekend, Cuban athletics marked a very significant anniversary, as one hundred years ago, on 3 December 1905, the first official athletics competition was held on the island.

In honour of the occasion a spectacular Gala was held on Saturday (3) to mark the Centenary of Cuban athletics at which past and present champions where honoured. This celebration was attended by an IAAF delegation headed by IAAF President Lamine Diack, who had travelled to Cuba from the USATF Annual Meeting in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.  President Diack arrived in Havana on Friday night (2), and was accompanied by the Area Representative, IAAF Council Member Neville McCook (JAM), and IAAF Communications Director Nick Davies.

Cuba, whose athletics federation was founded in 1922, even before its National Olympic Committee was established, has won 32 Olympic and 36 outdoor World Championship medals in athletics, including six (two gold and four silver) in Helsinki 2005.

The Gala show, ‘the Centennial of Cuban athletics’, was directed by Hugo Oslé. The 90-minute offering comprised a celebration of Cuban music and dance, and followed the history of Cuban athletics since Felix Carvajal’s fourth place finish in the 1904 Olympic marathon.

During the proceedings the IAAF delegation was presented with a special Centennial medal to mark the occasion. In turn President Diack, along with Cuban Olympic Committee President José Ramón Fernández and Cuban Minister of Sports Cristián Jiménez presented Centennial medals to 10 Cuban athletics legends: Enrique Figuerola, Pedro Pérez Dueñas, Alberto Juantorena, María Caridad Colón, Javier Sotomayor, Iván Pedroso, Anier García, Ana Fidelia Quirot, Yipsi Moreno and Osleidys Menéndez. Another 100 great athletes, spread across all the island’s provinces, will also be awarded the medal in the coming days.

Earlier on Saturday the IAAF delegation had visited the University of Havana, whose athletics team had competed with the Vedado Tennis Club in that first official competition a hundred years before. To mark the anniversary, President Diack along with IAAF Council Member and Cuban Athletics Federation President Alberto Juantorena, unveiled a centennial plaque at the University Stadium, which was founded in 1927.

“We would like express our appreciation to Cuba and President Fidel Castro (a former 800m runner), who has converted this country into a role model of ‘education through sport’,” said Diack.  “I have lived an exceptional day today. I do not say it to please you (his Cuban hosts)... this day is also very important for me. I have seen effective and real expressions of what Cuba does for human equality and solidarity. I feel privileged to have been able to unveil the plaque marking the centennial of Cuban athletics.”

“Our friend Alberto (Juantorena) believes that today will be a turning point in Cuban athletics, but not only in Cuban athletics, but also to the history of athletics in the world. I want to pay tribute to all athletes, past, present and future, for their contribution to our sport. For the younger ones, I wish you all the success that Cuban sport deserves”, the IAAF President concluded.

Earlier on Saturday, the IAAF delegation had visited the International Physical Education and Sports School, where more than 1500 students from 74 countries study sports for free.

“We received an exceptional welcome. This school is only possible in Cuba and is the result of a political will marked by international solidarity, with the conviction that sport is an essential element in education,” commented Diack who expressed his commitment to help install a synthetic track at the centre, which was founded in February 2001.

The IAAF delegation concluded its two-day visit to Cuba with a tour around Old Havana, and also the Giraldo Cordova Cardin High Performance Training Center where the national team trains and competes.

Also in recognition of the Centenary, the first issue of the Atletismo Cubano magazine was published, and the website of the Cuban Federation is scheduled to be launched soon.

Javier Clavelo Robinson and Nick Davies for the IAAF

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