Cubans shine under other flags

#Sports #Athletics #Baseball #Volleyball #Migration #Frontiers #Journalism #Opinion

Reinier Mena was included in the TOP 10 of the fastest runners in the 200 m flat by setting a time of 19.63 seconds this Sunday. Image taken from the athlete's Facebook profile.

The Cuban sprinter (currently competing for the Portuguese club S.L Benfica) Reynier Mena stopped the timers this Sunday in an impressive 19.63 sec. during his participation in the Resisprint athletic meeting, in the swiss city of La Chaux de Fonds, and thus achieved the gold medal of the event and the best mark of his entire career in the 200 meters flat.

With this unusual time, the native of the capital of the island became the first representative of that country to go under 20 seconds, and also broke into the top 10 records of all time in this modality. He also won the silver medal in the 100 meters with a personal best time of 9.99 seconds. A day of luxury for this young man.

Cuban triple jumper Jordan Diaz is the new Spanish title holder in his discipline. Image taken from the athlete's Facebook profile.

Similarly, it was recent news that the West Indian triple jumper (now competing under Spanish nationality), Jordan Diaz, "nailed" the spikes in 17.76 meters at the Alicante Athletic Meeting, and "smashed" the Iberian mark in that specialty. His record allowed him to climb to the top of the world ranking for this 2022.

Diaz, who left the Cuban delegation last year during the tour of Spain, with this result improved his own record achieved a few days earlier, and in passing relegated to second place in the overall ranking his fellow countryman Andy Diaz, who also lives and competes on the Old Continent.

This good news in the "King Sport" fills all Cubans with pride, but at the same time gives us a slap in the face when we read that none of the athletes involved currently represents the Greater of the Antilles. Sad reality that has no possible way out. Or at least not with the urgency required to stop or diminish the "bleeding".

​Run by sprinter Reynier Mena at the Resisprint rally (taken from Henry Morales' Youtube channel).	Triple jumper Jordan Díaz at the Alicante Athletic Meeting (taken from the Youtube channel of El Otro Medallero).

The departure of our sports talents to other countries in search of higher economic remuneration or better living conditions is not a recent issue. What is new is the inertia of the Cuban authorities in the face of this constant "flight". And I am not referring to retaliating against those who make these decisions (pressure mechanisms used with no results), but to review each and every one of the existing strategies in order to reward each one for his or her achievements. The famous phrase "... to each according to his work" so often repeated, but almost never applied.

The exodus of athletes, active or not, should not be analyzed with total rigor. Something is wrong when the number of those who see emigration as an alternative way of life or those who simply ask to leave their National Federation and go out to self-manage contracts abroad is higher and higher. In the end, it is a huge stain on pride to see so much talent wasted or, in the best of cases, achieving success in their new nationalities.

There are plenty of examples and not only in the field and court. Volleyball players who made their careers on the island like Wilfredo Leon, Osmany Juantorena and Yoandry Leal (just to mention a few) are today stars with Poland, Italy or Brazil, in that order. And of course, chess players like Leinier Domínguez or Lázaro Bruzón play for the United States, or Major League Baseball stars like Yulieski Gourriel, Yordan Álvarez or José Dariel Abreu (and many more) who no longer wear the four-letter shirt.

Cuba's sports authorities should call themselves to chapter with alacrity. Otherwise, the international press will continue to generate headlines with the successes of Ismael Borrero (Greco wrestling), Fernando Dayán Jorge (canoeing), Orlando Ortega and Pedro Pablo Pichardo (athletics) and many others, but this time from the nations where they arrived in search of better living conditions. Or they will continue their farewells at the risk of their own lives to achieve the recognition or attention denied at home.

Note: The images used in the gallery were downloaded from various Internet sites. They appear in that order: Wilfedo León, Osmany Juantorena, GM. Leinier Domínguez, Yulieski Gourriel, Yordan Álvarez and Fernando Dayán Jorge.