| "> | | | | the United States, where he lives now. |
| Like Park Chung-hee (Asia/South Korea: 1962-79) and | | | | SPORTING DEFECTIONS |
| Idi Amin Dada (Africa/Uganda: 1971-79), Fidel Castro is | | | | 1. Abvin Sánchez, Lazaro-Soccer...1995...United |
| a sports fanatic and enjoys watching all types of | | | | States |
| Olympic sports. Fidel Castro has visited the national | | | | 2. Aguero, Taimaris-Volleyball...2001....Switzerland |
| team's training camps, sports schools, National Schools | | | | 3. Aldama, Yamilé-Track and Field...2003...United |
| Games and spent time with the students-athletes and | | | | Kingdom |
| Olympic players. Since 1990, the Cuban dictatorship | | | | 4. Arocha, Rene-Baseball...1991...United States |
| has spent more than $80 million per year into Olympic | | | | 5. Arrojo, Rolando-Baseball...1996...United States |
| sport. However, Cuba is not an Olympic paradise. | | | | 6. Barthelemy, Giorbis-Boxing...1990...United States |
| Cuba's modern sporting history has been marked by | | | | 7. Blanco, Enrico-Boxing...1967...Canada |
| sporting defections. | | | | 8. Bordabehere, Roger-Cycling...1994...Venezuela |
| Every dictatorship has a style of its own. Leonidas | | | | 9. Borrell, Lazaro-Basketball...1999...Puerto Rico |
| Rafael Trujillo had one: Dominican music. Francois | | | | 10. Brito Ferrer, Michel-Gymnastics....2003...United States |
| Duvalier had one: Haitian culture. Kim Jong Il has one: | | | | 11. Brito, Javier-Volleyball...2004...Puerto Rico |
| the cinematography. He likes films as "Gone with the | | | | 12. Caballero, Angel Oscar-Basketball...1999...Puerto Rico |
| Wind", a famous film American. The dictator of North | | | | 13. Cala, Yosleider-Volleyball...2003...Puerto Rico |
| Korea wrote an essay "On the Art of Cinema". | | | | 14. Campoalegre, Ramón-Water |
| The Idi Amin Dada regimewas notorious for torturing | | | | Polo...1998...United States |
| political prisoners, forbidding dissent and free speech. | | | | 15. Casamayor, Joel-Boxing........1993.....United States |
| Under the dictatorship of Idi Amin Dada, about 350,000 | | | | 16. Castillo, Ulises-Boxing..........1993.....United States |
| people were killed. But he loves Olympic sports like | | | | 17. Contreras, José |
| Fidel Castro Ruz. During 1970s he had become an | | | | Ariel-Baseball...2002...Nicaragua |
| outspoken champion of sport in the Third World. I | | | | 18. Chappe, Taimi-Fencing...2002...Spain |
| remembered that the Ugandan team won two gold, | | | | 19. De la Pena, Janerky-Gymnastics...2003...United |
| four silver and three bronze medals during the | | | | States |
| Commonwealth Games in New Zealand in 1974. | | | | 20. Delgado, Alberto-Soccer...2002...United States |
| Overall Ugandan team ranked tenth, before Wales, | | | | 21. Dennis, Angel-Volleyball...2001...Belgium |
| Trinidad Tobago, Tanzania and Jamaica. | | | | 22. Díaz, Juan Carlos-Baseball...1996...Dominican |
| Fidel Castro once said: "What has Cuba's role been in | | | | Republic |
| the Olympic Games? What has it achieved? What | | | | 23. Dominguez, Iván-Cycling...1998...United States |
| has been the fruit of our efforts to promote healthy | | | | 24. Duquesne, Alfredo-Basketball...1994...Canada. |
| clean sports? At the 1972 Olympics, we finished 14th | | | | 25. Garbey, Ramón-Boxing............1993.....United |
| among 122 countries. At the Montreal Olympics in | | | | States |
| 1976--Juantorena remembers this well, and so do | | | | 26. García, Ives-Swimming...2001...Puerto Rico |
| we--we finished 8th among 88 participating countries. In | | | | 27. García, Osvaldo Junior-Water |
| 1980, in Moscow we finished 4th among 81 countries; in | | | | Polo...1995...United States |
| 1992, in Spain we finished 5th among 169 countries; and | | | | 28. García Martínez, |
| in Atlanta, in 1996 we finished 8th among 197 countries. | | | | Aliet-Soccer...2000.....United States |
| Could anyone refuse these figures". But under one of | | | | 29. Gato, Ramón-Volleyball...2001...Belgium |
| the world's oldest surviving dictatorships, the sport has | | | | 30. Gilbert, Andres-Basketball....1993...Puerto Rico |
| become a useful way for women and men to access | | | | 31. Gomez, Juan Carlos-Boxing......1995...Germany |
| to freedom. | | | | 32. González, |
| Certainly, Cuban sport is a story of both frustration and | | | | José-Cycling...1994...Venezuela |
| miracles. The Cuban government reacted with | | | | 33. Gregory, Elvis-Fencing...2002...Portugal |
| increduly when in 1980 Roberto Urrutia, a weightlifter, | | | | 34. Griñan, Fernando-Soccer.......1996....United States |
| unexpectedly announced his decision to seek asylum in | | | | 35. Guillen, Alain-Water Polo...1998...United States |
| the United States. At the age 14 Urrutia made | | | | 36. Guillen, Arnaldo-Water Polo...1998...United States |
| weightlifting high top priority, and ten months later he | | | | 37. Hernández, Adrian-Baseball...2000...Dominican |
| established national records. Urrutia entered the 1975 | | | | Republic |
| Pan American Championship at the age of 18 and | | | | 38. Hernandez, Alain-Soccer...2000...Costa Rica |
| won gold medals for Cuba. In December, in Matanzas, | | | | 39. Hernandez, Ihosvany-Volleyball...2001...Belgium |
| he become the first Latin American weightlifter to | | | | 40. Hernandez, Jorge Luis-Volleyball...2001...Belgium |
| obtain a World record. In 1976 he finally realized his | | | | 41. Hernandez, Livan-Baseball...1995...Mexico |
| dream of competing in the Olympics. Like Alberto | | | | 42. Hernandez, Odalys-Softball....1993...Puerto Rico |
| Juantorena (track and field), Teofilo Stevenson (boxing) | | | | 43. Hernández,Orlando-Baseball...1997...By boat |
| and Mireya Luis Hernandez (volleyball), Roberto Urrutia | | | | 44. Herrera, Roberto Carlos-Basketball....1999...Puerto |
| Hernandez, former member of Youth Communist | | | | Rico |
| Union, was a symbol of the Cuban Revolution. | | | | 45. Herrera, Ruperto-Basketball...1994...Canada |
| Roberto, was born on December 12, 1956, in La | | | | 46. Hurtado, Diobelys-Boxing...1995...United States |
| Havana, won 3 gold medals at the 1978 Weightlifting | | | | 47. Ibañez, Ciro-Weightlifting...1986....United States |
| World Championships and ended world Soviet's-year | | | | 48. Juncosa, Abel-Shooting....1999....Canada |
| domination of international weightlifting. Certainly, he | | | | 49. Lapera, Ulises-Field Hockey...1999...Canadá |
| was voted Hero of the Year by Prensa Latina. Before | | | | 50. León Tamayo, |
| the Moscow Olympic Games, Roberto Urrutia | | | | Charles-Gymnastics...2003...United States |
| defected to the United States via Mexico. | | | | 51. Marshall, Leonel-Volleyball...2001...Belgium |
| In the past few years, we have seen a number of | | | | 52. Martinez, Juan Carlos-Water Polo...1993...United |
| events take place: Taimaris Aguero, a player, came to | | | | States |
| seek freedom in Italy; Odelin Molina, an outstanding | | | | 53. Martinez, Rey-Soccer...2002...United States |
| footballer from La Havana sought political asylum in the | | | | 54. Matienzo, Richard-Basketball....1994...Canada |
| United States; and Dulce Tellez, a sportswoman, came | | | | 55. Miranda, Arturo-Diving...1995...Canada |
| to San Juan de Puerto Rico. | | | | 56. Montalvo, Niurka-Track and Field...1997...Greece |
| Aguero, who at 1,77, was considered one of the best | | | | 57. Muñoz, Daimara-Swimming...1998...Puerto Rico |
| female athletes in the Americas, at the age of 16 she | | | | 58. Nuñez, Jesús-Cycling...1998...Venezuela |
| become the youngest person ever to be a member | | | | 59. Nunez, Vladimir-Baseball...1995...Venezuela |
| of Cuban Team. During the 1993 World Junior | | | | 60. Ortega, William-Baseball...1996...México. |
| Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Aguero finished | | | | 61. Perez, Angel-Kayak...1993...United States |
| first in the competition for best setter. When Tanya | | | | 62. Perez, José-Track and Field...1997...Puerto |
| Ortyz, setter from 1987 to 1995, announced her | | | | Rico |
| intention to retire at the end of 1995, Aguero was | | | | 63. Piedra, Armando-Water Polo...1995...United States |
| considered a leading candidate for the post. Therefore, | | | | 64. Pino, Héctor-Basketball...1999...Puerto Rico |
| she was keywoman when Cuba finished first at the | | | | 65. Ramírez, Rio-Diving...1993...Puerto Rico |
| 1998 World Championship. In 2000 Aguero helped the | | | | 66. Rodriguez, Heriberto-Cycling...1998...Venezuela |
| Cuban team reach victory at the Olympic Games. If | | | | 67. Rodriguez Osorio, Gunther-Swimming...2003...Puerto |
| not the greatest setter ever, she is certainly the most | | | | Rico |
| celebrated in volleyball history. Nowadays Taimaris | | | | 68. Romero Mayeta, |
| Aguero is one of the most remembered and dearest | | | | Laseer-Volleyball...2001...Bélgica |
| sportswomen by Cubans. Behind baseball, volleyball is | | | | 69. Rosales, Nubis-Swimming...1998...Puerto Rico |
| the most popular sport in Cuba. | | | | 70. Salas, Maikel-Volleyball...2004...Puerto Rico |
| Dulce Tellez was named best player in the 2006 Pan | | | | 71. Sánchez, Alex-Baseball...1994...By boat |
| American Championships in Puerto Rico. Under her | | | | 72. Sánchez, Alexis-Track and |
| leadership Cuba won the bronze medal in volleyball in | | | | Field...1998....Puerto Rico |
| the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. She left Cuba in | | | | 73. Toca, Jorge Luis-Baseball...1998...By boat |
| July 2006--three months before the World | | | | 74. Trevejo, Iván-Fencing...2002...Portugal |
| Championships in Tokyo. Before the 2006 World | | | | 75. Urrutia, Roberto-Weightlifting....1980....Mexico |
| Championships, Cuba was ranked 3rd in the world. | | | | 76. Valdés, Tatiana-Kayak...1994...United States |
| Now it is ranked 7th. Meanwhile, Odelin Molina, was | | | | 77. Vázquez, Juan-Basketball....1999....Canada |
| born on August, 1974, in La Havana, was one of | | | | 78. Wilson, Jesús-Wrestling...1994...United States |
| Cuba's best footballer and played the 1991 World | | | | 79. Zayas, Daniel-Weightlifting...1987... |
| Championship Under-16 in Italy. In 1995 he defected to | | | | |