Mexico 68: The Olympic path in Latin America

From the place where is Granma yacht, which transported 82 expeditionary since Tuxpan in the year 1956 with Fidel as leader, a replica of Olympic Flame of Mexico 1968 departed, which will travel several states in this brother country, till arrive to the capital city.

Sixty eight glories of the Cuban sport movement, among which were several protagonists of the first Olympic Games celebrated in Latin America, guarded the Torch since the Museum of the Revolution till the quay of the capital, where it departed towards Veracruz in the “Cuauhtémoc” school ship.

The General Secretary of the Cuban Olympic Committee, Ruperto Herrera, thanked the gesture of initiate the commemorative activities for the 50 years of the Olympic exploit, by our Homeland. “For Cuba this event had very special motivations, because it deals about a brother country linked to our national liberation heroic deeds in many ways. Besides it allowed showing to the world the beginning of a world sport potency”, he pointed out.

By his side the Ambassador of Mexico in Cuba, the excellent sir Enrique Martínez, said that between these two countries always has existed a great brotherhood. “We feel the support of the Cubans for receiving those Games. What a so extraordinary scenario this! With the Granma that has been the emblem and testimony of our brotherhood. We must recognize that the Cuban trainers have been key pieces in the development of the Mexican sport”.

The sprinter Enrique Figuerola, silver in the relay race 4x100 meters in the Olympic appointment of 1968, remembered those moments that lived together with the Mexicans. “We are reliving the stimulating and important that were those Olympics for us and for Latin America, due to they had a really hard time to receive the headquarters”, the first Olympic medalist after the Triumph of the Revolution declared.

The First Vice-president of the Mexican Olympic Committee, Jimena Saldaña, manifested her gratefulness to the Cuban sport authorities for being part of these celebrations and she left as a remembrance, a replica of the Olympic Flame of Mexico 68.

In that Olympics, the Cuban athletes achieved four medals of silver, in both relay races 4x100 and through the boxers Enrique Regüeiferos and Rolando Garbey. Among the ladies the posts were integrated by Marlene Elejalde, Fulgencia Romay, Violeta Quesada and Miguelina Cobián. Besides Enrique Figuerola; Hermes Ramírez, Pablo Montes and Juan Morales were in the male short relay race.