History of Cuban Sports Treasured in Havana’s New Hall

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel inaugurated the Cuban Sports Hall, located in an area of the Coliseum in Havana’s Sports City

Also present at the event were Olga Lidia Tapia Iglesias, member of the Party’s Central Committee Secretariat; José Antonio Torres Iríbar, first secretary of the PCC in Havana; Reynaldo García Zapata, president of the People’s Power in the capital; and Dr. C. Antonio Becali Garrido, head of INDER, along with a part of the delegation that will attend the Central Caribbean Games in Barranquilla, which will open on the coming 19th.

For a long time now, the idea of creating a hall where all the history of Cuban sports would be gathered, which began at a time when the athlete’s talent did not have the support of the governments that prevailed, both in the colonial era and in the so-called Republic, Díaz-Canel said.

The Cuban president commented that with the triumph of the Revolution, and as an idea conceived by our Commander in Chief to turn sport into the right of all the people, a revolution in what would be Cuban culture and sports activities was also conceived within the Revolution.

With a view to developing sport as an element of a healthier lifestyle for people, and with a concept of sport for all, we have also reached, through Fidel’s idea, a high-performance concept of sport, he said.

Díaz-Canel stressed that during all these years of the Revolution, Cuban sport has been one of the conquests and expressions of joy and confirmation of the patriotic and human values of our people.

Sport is one of the activities that has brought most joy and happiness to the population, he said.

In the current times of sport as a commodity, administrative corruption and the scourge of doping, the Cuban Revolution, in a country with scarce economic and financial resources, has tried to continue to maintain the morale and dignity of its sport, said Díaz-Canel.

We have also suffered the exodus of a group of our best athletes, as part of the subversive provocation that imperialism is trying to impose on our athletes, seeking a lack of commitment to their Revolution, he said.

But the most important thing is those who are here, those who come out into the field with the courage of dignity and commitment, with the gratitude to the people who make it possible to keep sport in the dimensions that we have and also with the desire to win gold and medals in a modest way, explained the president.

Before officially opening the Cuban Sports Hall in an area of the Sports City coliseum, the Cuban President invited coaches and directors of the different sports to express their commitment to the upcoming meeting.

Recognitions were also given to organizations and artists responsible for the construction of the Hall, including the National Council for Cultural Heritage, the Ministry of Culture, UNEAC and the Genesis Art Galleries Company.

Special diplomas were awarded to Rolando Rodríguez Hasty, as creator of a museum in his home in the Holguin municipality of Antilla, and to Santos Toledo Argudín, the main creator of this work.