Mijain Lopez: Cuban legend to make more history

Sports Ambassador of Lima 2019 Pan American Games and Cuba’s emblematic figure, wrestler Mijain Lopez is ready to make more history.

It’s possible, we would say when talking about the successful career of Lopez, the 1.96-meter-tall giant, who aged 36, wants to increase his palmares that includes three Olympic crowns, three Pan American crowns and four World Cups in Greco-Roman wrestling.

“Truly, I am very motivated and confident that I will be able to give this satisfaction to the people of Cuba and to myself as well,” the athlete told Prensa Latina.

After being named once again the flag-bearer of the Cuban delegation to compete in Lima from July 26, Lopez confessed that he’s been training pretty hard in order to achieve two major aims.

He wishes to win the gold medals in both Lima 2019 and Tokyo Olympic Games, which will allow him to complete one of the most relevant achievements in Greco-Roman wrestling.

He admitted, nevertheless, that the continental competition in the Inca capital would be harder for the rise in the qualitative level of the participants. “But as always we will strive, with the spirit and dedication that characterize Cubans,” he stated.

“You need a lot of sacrifice and motivation to fulfill these new dreams. I am aware of the seriousness which I should take on the period to come, perhaps one of the most complicated in my sports career”, he acknowledged.

Native to Consolacion del Sur, in the western province of Pinar del Río, Lopez will face strong regional opponents at the Miguel Grau Coliseum, in Callao, such as US Adam Jacob Coon, 3rd in the world ranking, and Cuban-born Chilean Yasmany Acosta, 4th.

Olympic champion in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016, he’ll take a break after the Lima 2019 Pan American Games before seeking his ticket to Tokyo 2020, with a view to become the top gold-medal winner in the history of Greco-Roman wrestling.

Translated by Jorge Mesa Benjamin / CubaSi Translation Staff