Cuba at the Pan American Games

The Cuban completed a feat of 225.1 points that allowed her to revalidate the title achieved four years earlier in the Lima-2019 edition, although she was slightly below her own record of 227.4 units set in the Peruvian capital.

Yenigladys started with a score of 46.7, below Mexico’s Dulce Licona (47.1) and Brazil’s Debora Campos (46.9), but from the second heat on, she took the lead in the competition and never lost it.

The silver medal went to Costa Rica’s Paola Arana (222.1), who left South American Campos (201.8) in bronze.

Before the women’s final, American Marco de la Rosa (227.6) beat Cuba’s Di Angelo Lóriga (226.7) by less than a point to win gold and silver, respectively, in the 10 m air pistol SH1 category, while the bronze went to Yanxiao Gong (204.7), also from the north of the country.

In the men’s category, the record for the Parapan American Games also remained intact and will be held by Brazil’s Geraldo Rosenthal (232) for another four years.

The SH1 category is for pistol event shooters who have limited movement of their arms and lower torso and legs, or the absence of any of their limbs.

Cuba dominated the day with one gold and one silver medal, followed by the United States (1-0-1), Costa Rica (0-1-0) and Brazil (0-0-1).

The Parade Sport Shooting Tournament of Santiago 2023 takes place in the Pudahuel Polygon, located about 18 kilometers from the center of this capital, towards the west, although within the Metropolitan Region.

Lorenzo Perez made history in the Parapan American pool

Cuban swimmer Lorenzo Perez resists the passage of time: four Parapan American Games and he still has the strength to win medals.

He came here with a commitment to those who trusted him and he prefers not to disappoint. Uncertain times were left behind, but he has overcome them with willpower and an extraordinary talent that he has not lost. 

Anyone who does not understand the difficult challenge of winning will find it hard to appreciate the epic journey from the first time he stepped onto the podium in this race to the most recent one. 

With this one, they have four editions in the elite, climbing steps and adding to an enviable record that will be difficult to match.

That is what his existence is all about, overcoming adversity and laughing at the difficulty, as he did after swimming the 100 meters with his heart in the pool of the Aquatic Complex of the National Stadium Park in Chile. 

As soon as he got out of the pool he was quick to thank as many people as he could. Such gratitude widens his chest, already swollen by the arduous race.

To thank, he dedicated the triumph to his family, to his trainers, to the doctors who solved again the affront of immobility…. 

“It was a very exhausting test. I haven’t felt like this since 2015. On that occasion I arrived so exhausted that I did not perceive that I had set the world record,” he compared without fear of exaggeration.

“I am very happy about this medal. It imposes something that is stronger than all things: the will,” he assured without false pride.

At 37 years of age, many would have changed the role, but his will keeps him clinging to the dream of reaching the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024.

To do so, he intends to work tirelessly, as he has done all these years. Maybe then they will notice that the ambitious dream is as possible as it is real. Then they will know, those who see him go out again with his peculiar determination, that he is to purpose as much as sacrifice is to success.