Like many dictatorships, Cuba has always invested heavily in sports with the aim of selling the international community the illusion that the country had “done well”.
Now, with Cuba facing its worst economic crisis since the end of its Soviet ally, funding for the region has dwindled and the country’s participation in the Olympics is in jeopardy: only 63 Cuban athletes will represent the island at the Paris Games, which begin next week.
It is the lowest number of Cuban athletes at an Olympics since the first Tokyo Games in 1964, when 27 Cuban athletes participated.
This decrease should have an impact on the medals won by the country. In the second Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 and in which 70 Cuban athletes competed, Cuba came in 14th place in the medal table, with seven gold medals and a total of 15 won, including silver and bronze.
It was a respectable number, considering the size and poverty of the country, but it fell far short of the height of Cuban Olympic sport.
Cuba’s most successful participation in the Olympics was in Barcelona in 1992, when the island came in fifth place in the medal table, winning 14 gold medals (31 in total). To give you an idea, in those Games, Brazil came in only 25th place, with two gold medals (three in total).
Overall, Cuba’s best position in an Olympics since the Castroites took power in 1959 was fourth place at the 1980 Moscow Games, when it came fourth in the medal table (eight gold, 20 in total), but in those Games competitors from communist countries benefited from the boycott of the event by the United States and other nations.
The Olympics with the largest participation of Cuban athletes was in Sydney in 2000, when 229 Cuban athletes competed in Australia.
Now, the prospect is of a participation far removed from the great moments of the past. “It is no secret to anyone that economic problems affect preparation, but with what we have, we are moving forward, to fight for our dreams and for the Olympic gold medal, which is what we are preparing for today,” Cuban boxer Julio César La Cruz, who will be seeking his third Olympic gold medal in Paris, told EFE.
Due to the difficult living conditions created by the Castro dictatorship, it has always been common for Cuban athletes to leave the country, but this rate has intensified due to the economic crisis. An analysis by the CubaNet website found that at least 106 athletes left the country in 2023.
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