HAVANA TIMES – Not too many years ago, Cuba was a factory producing athletes who brought home medals and honors in international competitions. After each victory, reporters asked the athlete: “And who do you dedicate this medal to?”
Always the same question, repeated ad nauseum. Both the athlete and the spectators knew the answer by heart: “to the Commander in Chief.” The family was relegated to second place, because you had to babble that memorized phrase, repeated since the earliest school competitions.
The question and the response formed the introduction and the conclusion to all the events. If by some chance the athlete forgot who they were dedicating the medal to, the reporter of the moment took it upon themselves to insist, until they heard the name and the military rank.
Although now the number of medals is scant, that dedication is still heard: “to the president.” It’s said almost scornfully, as if the athlete was thinking: “I better say it, before I forget it.”
Those who previously dedicated their medals to the “Comandante,” are now desperately seeking someone who will pay in dollars for that same medal.
This past week, there was a story regarding boxer Mario Kindelan that captured the attention of the social networks. Kindelan had twice been an Olympic champion – in 2000 in Sidney, and in 2004 in Athens. The Olympic champ revealed that he had left for Bahrain through personal arrangements at the beginning of 2023, in search of some economic betterment for himself and his family.
“I had barely left Cuba when the Inder [Cuba’s National Institute for Sports, Physical Education and Recreation] took back the grubby pension de 7,400 pesos [currently US $30] for my Olympic gold medals. Appa