Cali-Valley 2021 Pan American Youth Championships Logo
Havana, September 9 (RHC/ACN)-- Cycling, in the Mountain Bike specialty, and modern pentathlon won one female quota each for the Cali 2021 Pan American Youth Games, and Cuba reached 159 tickets for the Colombian multi-sport event, scheduled to take place from November 25 to December 5.
Previously, swimming had won five places, with three women and two men, so the total number of qualified athletes continues to grow -68 women and 91 men-, so far in 24 disciplines.
Lázaro Oliva, from the technical-methodological direction of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder), updated JIT on the current situation of the number of Cuban athletes who will participate in the first edition of the Games.
The list of qualified athletes includes badminton (2f and 2m), handball (14-14), baseball (22v), boxing (7m), canoeing (1-1), cycling (4-3), diving (4-4), fencing (2-3), rhythmic gymnastics (7f), karate (1m) and weightlifting (2-3).
Rounding out the list are Greco-Roman (6m), freestyle (6m) and women's wrestling (6), swimming (3-2), figure swimming (8-1), roller skating (2m), figure skating (1m), modern pentathlon (2-2), rowing (2f), table tennis (2-2), taekwondo (2-2), shooting (1m), archery (1-1), triathlon (2-2), sailing (2-1) and beach volleyball (2-2).
We are waiting for the confirmation of judo, the possibility of a wild card in tennis and the closing of athletics on October 10, a sport that should bring us the largest number of quotas, he told JIT. And he added: "our athletes have already concluded their events, but some representatives from other countries can achieve their marks by that date.
He also recalled that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the preparation of athletes was affected and several sports could not attend the qualifying competitions, such as shooting, artistic gymnastics, track cycling and indoor volleyball. Nevertheless, Cuba will be represented with a large delegation, he said.
As recently reported, the athletes and coaches members of the pre-selections will begin from Thursday to gather in the High Performance Schools Cerro Pelado and Giraldo Cordova Cardin, where the so-called bubbles will operate, to fulfill the preparation.
He recalled that in this important stage the province of Ciego de Avila will receive the contestants of wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling.
In the capital, the rowing, volleyball, gymnastics and sailing schools, as well as the velodrome and the Baraguá Swimming Pool Complex, will also host our athletes, giving priority to the protocols associated with the COVID-19 confrontation, Oliva said.
More than 3,800 athletes under 23 years of age, in 39 disciplines, will meet in Cali, Palmira, Buga, Calima, Jamundí and Yumbo in their quest to reach the main events of the next cycle: the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile 2023 and the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
