They won 28 medals in the Olympic Games: 11 gold, 10 silver and seven bronze
14ymedio, Havana, 30 August 2024 — At the Paris 2024 Olympics there were 50 Cuban coaches who had emigrated and were in charge of training athletes in 30 countries. They earned 28 medals with their work, triple those obtained by the Cuban delegation (just nine). The result highlighted the impact of exile on the Island’s sport, which this year had its worst performance since Munich 1972.
Of the prizes obtained by Cuban coaches, 11 were gold, 10 silver and seven bronze. Boxing alone, one of the most important disciplines for Cuba, gave other countries nine gold metals. The other two were distributed in other sports.
The biggest success story in Paris was that of Enrique Steiner. Together with Julio Lee from Santiago, he coached the Uzbekistan boxers, who imposed their dominance in the men’s branch. The country won five gold medals under his command: Hasanboy Dusmatov (112 lbs), Abdumalik Khalokov (126 lbs), Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev (147 lbs), Lazizbek Mullojonov (203 lbs) and Bakhodir Jalolov (over 203 lbs). In Cuba, Steiner coached the national youth and adult boxing teams.
Boxing alone, one of the most important disciplines for Cuba, gave other countries nine gold metals
Three gold medals, also in boxing, went to China, which was under the preparation of Raúl Fernández. In the women’s branch, Wu Yu (110 lbs), Chang Yuan (119 lbs) and Li Qian (165 lbs) won the titles.
The ninth golden metal in boxing with a Cuban coach was obtained by Algerian boxer Imane Khelif (146 lbs), center of one of the greatest controversies about the gender of athletes in Paris. Pedro Luis Díaz, who left an outstanding school in Cuba, was her mentor. He was part of several Olympic cycles under the tutelage of the historic Alcides Sagarra, and he contributed to the development of such figures as Félix Savón, Joel Casamayor, Yan Barthelemí and Héctor Vinent, Olympic legends of the Island.
In Paris, Cuba barely added two medals in boxing, the worst in that discipline in the Olympic Games in 56 years. The Island has received almost a third of the boxing medals in its history; it won 80 of the 244 it has received in the Olympics. The coup could be even worse, because boxing is not contemplated for Los Angeles 2028.
In the world of athletics, Iván Pedroso, in his role as a coach, already has an impressive record. In Tokyo he led the Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas to the gold, with a world record in a triple jump of 15.67 meters (51.4 feet). Now, in Paris, his pupil, Jordan Díaz – an exiled Cuban athlete who represented Spain – won gold in triple jump. The second and third place of that competition were also jumpers from the Island, but under the flags of Portugal (Pedro Pablo Pichardo) and Italy (Andy Díaz).
Iván Pedroso, in his role as a coach, already has an impressive record. In Tokyo he led the Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas to the gold. Now, in Paris, his pupil Jordan Díaz won the gold
As an athlete, Pedroso added a gold medal in Sydney 2000, in addition to having been four times world champion outdoors and five times indoors. His 29.4 feet jump in Sestriere, Italy, in 1995, could have been a world record, but, after a controversy over the wind, it was decided not to recognize it.
The eleventh gold medal of a coach from the Island in Paris was the one obtained by the Dominican Marileidy Paulino. With Yaseen Pérez, from Havana, as her coach, she won the 400 meters (656.2 feet), setting an Olympic record, and she is also the current world champion of the discipline, which made her the only multi-medalist woman in the Dominican Republic.
The number of Cuban coaches working in other countries has grown over the years, along with multiple cases of exile. In Tokyo 2020, 44 were counted, representing 23 nations, and in the last decade alone, more than 1,000 athletes and coaches have fled the Island. This has been a hard blow to the aspirations of Cuban sports internationally.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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