Diaz Canel flags the Olympic and Paralympic delegations to Paris

Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the country, flagged off today the Olympic and Paralympic delegations that will attend the Paris 2024 Games.

At the Jose Marti Memorial in the Revolution Square in Havana, Diaz Canel handed over the banners that will be carried by Greco-Roman wrestler Mijain Lopez and judo athlete Idalis Ortiz, and paratriathletes Omara Durand (100, 200 and 400 meters) and Robiel Yankiel Sol (long jumper), in that order, at the Parisian multi-sport event.

The ceremony was also attended by Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister, Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, Deputy Prime Minister, who was in charge of the main remarks of the ceremony, in which he urged them to compete at the height of the Revolution and the people who admire them so much and will follow them during all the days of competitions.

Laurent Burin Des Roziers, French ambassador to Cuba, Osvaldo Vento, president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder by its Spanish acronym) and Roberto Leon Richard, head of the Cuban Olympic Committee, among other directors of Inder and the Glories of Cuban Sport, also attended the ceremony.

Mijain received the flag from Diaz-Canel, while Idalis received it from Otto Vailant, Cuba's ambassador to France, but at the diplomatic headquarters in Paris, where he is currently on a training base.

Diaz-Canel also handed the banner to Omara and Robiel Yankiel.

Another touching moment of the ceremony was the presentation by the Cuban President of the Order of Sports Merit awarded by the Council of Ministers to the multi-Olympic, Paralympic and world champions, Mijain and Omara.

On behalf of the delegations, Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling champion Luis Alberto Orta read the athletes' commitment, in which he emphasized ¨to be faithful to the legacy of Fidel, who turned sports into a right of the people, and constitutes a permanent source of inspiration¨.