Cuba Unveils Powerhouse Olympic Team and Other Sports Briefs

Team Cuba is fired up and ready to go to the Olympic Games in Rio this August, with a total of 58 athletes qualified for nine different disciplines.

The 42 men and 16 women, will compete mostly in track and field events, but also volleyball, boxing, modern pentathlon and gymnastics, among others.

The number of Cubans qualified for the competition could increase in the next months with further preliminary events.

In London 2012, Cuba came 16th out of 204 nations, the highest out of any Latin American nation, an extraordinary feat for an island with a population of 11 million.

“Cuba has a very particular characteristic, being a small country it is an Olympic power thanks to our sport. It is the only country that is distinguished as a sports management model different from other countries, where commercialization dominates,” said Cuban sports chief Rene Romero Esquivel.