Sport in Cuba

The largest island of the West Indies, Cuba is located 200 kilometers south of Florida and 100 kilometers west of Haiti.The capital city, Havana (with an estimated population of 2.3 million in 2003), is located on Cuba’s northwest coast. Cuba’s national population in 2004 was estimated at 11.3 million. Sport has been an important part of national life since the 1800s, but until mid-twentieth century, it involved mainly professional and amateur baseball, professional boxing, and amateur activities of the university and exclusive sport clubs. Cuba after the revolution of 1959 made sport a top national priority and established a developmental system that produced many great champions and coaches.

History

Indigenous people of Cuba and neighboring islands played batos, a bat-and-ball game. Colonial sports included cockfighting, bullfighting, and horseracing. Bullfighting and cockfighting are now prohibited by law, but horseracing continues. The game of pelota vasca also has continued since colonial times.

In the 1860s baseball came to Cuba by way of young men returning home from their studies in the United States. During the 1870s baseball teams already existed in Cuba, and a professional league began play. Largely through the efforts of Cubans, baseball spread to other Latin American countries. During the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century Cubans played professional baseball in the United States (major leagues and Negro leagues) and in other Latin American countries. Adolfo Luque, Martín Di- Higo (a member of the U.S., Cuban, and Mexican Halls of Fame), Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso, and Luis Tiant Sr. were among the early great Cuban professionals. Before 1959 Cuba had supplied more U.S. major league players than any other country outside the United States. Beginning in 1949 interleague play for professional teams culminated in the Caribbean Series, a “world series” for Latin American teams, which Cuba dominated until after professional sport was banned by the new socialist government at the beginning of the 1960s. Cuba hosted the series championship three times and won it seven times during this period. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries exclusive private clubs, such as the Vedado Tennis Club and the Club Atlético de Cuba, and the University of Havana had baseball teams and also played many other sports. Cuba has dominated international amateur baseball throughout its history.

Participant and Spectator Sports

As in the rest of the world during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, sports in Cuba were largely limited to relatively wealthy and socially elite people, especially members of exclusive social clubs (such as the Vedado Tennis Club) and university students. Bullfighting, boxing, and baseball were professional sports before 1959. After the socialist revolution Cuba discontinued professional sports, encouraged sports participation for all Cubans, and initiated strong programs for the training of elite athletes. After a developmental period of ten to twelve years, socialist Cuba became a sporting power in the Americas.

Central American and Caribbean Games

Cuba had a large representation in the first Central American and Caribbean Games (called “Central American Games” until 1938) in Mexico City in 1926, where Cuba won baseball, all fencing events (Ramón Fonst won all), five of the eight field events, four of six swimming events, and exhibition rifle shooting. Cuba hosted the second games in Havana in 1930 and subsequently participated in all years of the series except for 1959 (the year the revolution was completed) until boycotting the 2002 edition in El Salvador. Havana was host for the second time in 1982.

Before missing the 1959 games, Cuban men had won gold medals in 100 meters, 200 meters (Rafael Fortún won 100 meters and 200 meters in 1946 and 100 meters again in 1950 and 1954), 45 100 meters, and 400-meter hurdles, as well as several field events, baseball (1926–1938, 1950), boxing, soccer, fencing, gymnastics, swimming and diving, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling, and volleyball and silver medals in basketball. Cuban women had won gold in swimming and diving and a silver in basketball. Cuba won the most gold and total medals in 1930 and 1946 and most total again in 1935 and came in second in both categories behind Mexico in 1926, 1950, and 1954.

From the 1962 games through 1990 Cuban men won gold in 100 meters, 200 meters (Silvio Leonard won 100 meters and 200 meters in 1974 and 1978), 400 meters (Alberto Juantorena in 1974 finished nearly four seconds faster than the next runner), 800 meters (Juantorena in 1978), 1,500 meters, 110-meter hurdles, 3,000-meter steeplechase, 45 100 meters, 45400 meters, and the decathlon. Cuban men also won all field events (Javier Sotomayor set a high jump record of 2.34 meters in 1990), archery, baseball (1966–1978, 1986, 1990), basketball (1974, 1982), and boxing (eleven of twelve categories in 1986 and ten of twelve in 1990). Cuban men also won canoeing and kayaking, cycling, fencing (all events in 1978, 1982), field hockey (1982–1990), gymnastics (all medals in 1970, all golds in 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986), judo (all categories in 1978 and 1982 and eight of nine in 1986), rowing (seven of eight events in 1982), shooting, soccer (1970– 1978, 1986), softball (1990), swimming, table tennis, tennis, volleyball (1966–1978, 1986, 1990), water polo (1966–1990), and weightlifting (all categories in 1978, 1982, nine of ten in 1986). Cuban men also won in wrestling (all Greco-Roman categories in 1982 and 1986, all freestyle categories in 1986, and all but one category in 1982) and yachting, as well as silver medals in diving and tae kwon do.

Cuban women won gold medals in all women’s track and field events, including pentathlon and heptathlon (Liliana Allen won 100 meters and 200 meters in 1990, María Caridad Colón set a javelin record in 1978 and bettered it in 1982, Ana Fidelia Quirot won 400 meters and 800 meters in 1986 and 1990), archery (all events in 1982), basketball (1970–1990), canoe and kayak, fencing (all events in 1978 and 1982), gymnastics (all medals in 1970, all golds in 1974–1986), diving, judo, rowing, shooting (all events in 1982), softball (1990), synchronized swimming, table tennis, tennis, tae kwon do, and volleyball (1966, 1974, 1978, 1986, 1990).

For most games of this period the Cuban athletic delegations were the most numerous, and Cuban athletes dominated track and field, boxing, baseball, basketball, fencing, gymnastics, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, and wrestling. Among the weakest sports for Cuban athletes were equestrian , swimming, tennis, and yachting. Fearing for the safety of their delegation in San Salvador, Cuba did not participate in the 2002 games. As a substitute activity Cuba held the first “Olympics of Cuban Sports.”

Through 1986 Cubans held fifteen of twenty-three Central American and Caribbean women’s track and field records and eighteen of twenty-nine men’s track and field records, one cycling record, all but one weightlifting record, all women’s shooting records, and most men’s shooting records, and had won 43 percent of gold and 28 percent of total medals.

Key Events in Cuba Sports History

• 1860s Baseball is brought to Cuba from the United States. 
• 1870s A professional baseball league is formed in Cuba. 
• 1900 Cuba participates in the Olympics for the first time. 
• 1926 Cuba participates in the first Central American Games in Mexico City. 
• 1926 The Cuban Olympic Committee is established. 
• 1930 Cuba hosts the second Central American Games. 
• 1949 The Caribbean Series is established as the “World Series” for Latin American baseball teams. 
• 1951 Cuba participates in the first Pan American Games. 
• 1959 The Castro government makes sports a national priority and bans professional sports. 
• 1972 Cuban athletes win gold medals for the first time at the Olympics. 
• 1984 Cuba boycotts the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. 
• 1988 Cuba boycotts the Summer Olympics in Seoul. 
• 1991 Cuba hosts the eleventh Pan American Games. 
• 1999 Cuba participates in the first Pan American Paralympics. 
• 2002 Cuba boycotts the Central American and Caribbean Games.

Pan American Games

Cuba has participated in all editions of the Pan American Games from the initial games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1951 through the most recent in the Dominican Republic in 2002. Havana hosted the eleventh games in 1991. In the first Pan Ams, Cuba won men’s 100 meters and 200 meters (Rafael Fortún won both), baseball, three men’s gymnastics events, and other medals in boxing, fencing, weightlifting, wrestling, swimming, and shooting. From 1951 through 1959 Cuban men won Pan American gold medals in 100 meters and 200 meters, baseball (1951), boxing, weightlifting, other medals in 45100 meters, 110-meter hurdles, triple jump, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, and wrestling. Cuban women won 60-meter and 80-meter hurdles and a bronze medal in discus. During this period of three Pan Ams Cubans won nine gold and forty-five total medals.

From 1963 through 1999 Cuban men won Pan American gold medals in 100 meters (Silvio Leonard in 1975 and both the 100 meters and 200 meters in 1979), 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, marathon, 110-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles, 45 100 meters, 45 400 meters, high jump (Javier Sotomayor set records at 2.32 meters in 1987, 2.35 meters in 1991, and 2.4 meters in 1995), long jump, triple jump, shot, discus, javelin, and hammer throw. They also won baseball (1963, 1971, 1979, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003), boxing (seven of eleven categories in 1975, eight of twelve in 1983, ten of twelve in 1987, eleven of twelve in 1991), canoeing and kayaking, cycling, fencing, gymnastics (all eight events in 1991), judo, karate, rowing, shooting, swimming and diving, tae kwon do, team handball (1991–1999), volleyball (1971–1979, 1991, 1999), and water polo. They also won in weightlifting (eighteen of twenty-seven categories in 1975, seventeen of nineteen in 1983, twenty-nine of thirty in 1991), Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling (eight of ten Greco-Roman and five of ten freestyle categories in 1983).

Cuban women won gold medals in 100 meters, 200 meters (Liliana Allen in both), 400 meters, 800 meters (Ana Fidelia Quirot won both in 1987 and 1991, with a record in the 800 meters in 1987), 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles, 45 100 meters, and 4 5 400 meters. They also won high jump, long jump, triple jump, shot, discus, javelin (María Colón in 1979 and 1983), heptathlon, archery, basketball (1979, 1999, 2003), fencing, karate, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, judo (eight of ten categories in 1991, all eight categories in 1995), kayaking, shooting, table tennis, tae kwon do, and volleyball (1971, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995).

From 1951 through 2003 Cuba was in second place overall in total Pan Am medals won. Cuba’s greatest Pan American successes have come in baseball, boxing, men’s and women’s basketball, fencing, volleyball, track and field, and men’s gymnastics, weightlifting, and wrestling. Cuban athletes have been weakest in equestrian, roller skating, softball, swimming, and yachting. Through 1999 Cuba had won 654 gold, 464 silver, and 401 bronze medals for a total of 1,519. The comparable figures are 1,587, 1,154, 774, and 3,515 for firstplace United States and 286, 451, 592, and 1,329 for third-place Canada. During the post-1959 period Cuba made its first great advance in 1971 (second overall in gold and total medals) and maintained this position in subsequent games through 2003, with the exception of first place in gold medals in 1991 and third place in total medals in 1999. Cuba also has had extensive participation in the Pan American Paralympics since the first were held in Mexico in 1999.

Olympic Games

Cuba’s first Olympic appearance came in 1900 in Paris, where Ramón Fonst won a gold and a silver in fencing. Fonst won two more gold, and Cuba won a total of four gold, two silver, and three bronze medals in fencing in St. Louis in 1904. In 1948 Cuba won a silver in yachting.

After the revolution Cuban participation and success in Olympic Games began slowly but accelerated through the 1980 games in Moscow. In 1964 (Tokyo) a Cuban man won silver in the 100 meters; in 1968 (Mexico City) Cubans won two silver medals in boxing (Rolando Garbey won one of them) and silver in men’s and women’s 4 5 100 meters. The first gold medals came in 1972 (Munich, Germany): three boxing golds (including heavyweight Teófilo Stevenson). Other medals were one silver and one bronze in boxing, bronze in men’s basketball, and bronze in the women’s 100 meters and 4 5 100 meters. Gold medals in 1976 (Montreal, Canada) included three in boxing (including Stevenson), 400 meters and 800 meters (Alberto Juantorena won both), and one in men’s judo; other medals were three silver and two bronze (including Rolando Garbey) in boxing, silver in men’s 110-meter hurdles and bronze in men’s volleyball. Cuba’s best Olympic year at the time was 1980 (Moscow), when Cuba won six gold (Stevenson again), two silver, and two bronze medals in boxing, gold in javelin (María Caridad Colón), one gold and one bronze in weightlifting, silver in men’s 100 meters (Silvio Leonard) and 110-meter hurdles, bronze in men’s discus, two silver in men’s judo, and one bronze in men’s shooting. Cuba tied for third in gold medals (eight) and for fourth in total medals (twenty), however, ending well behind first- and second-place USSR and East Germany.

As a result of political conflicts and allegiances Cuba boycotted the 1984 (Los Angeles) and 1988 (Seoul, South Korea) Olympics. However, for the games in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992, Cuba won unprecedented numbers of medals for such a small country. Cubans won seven of twelve possible gold (including heavyweight Félix Savón) and two silver medals in boxing, gold in men’s high jump (Javier Sotomayor) and women’s discus, silver in men’s 4 5 400 meters, bronze in men’s 4 5 100 meters and men’s discus, and bronze in women’s 800 meters (Ana Quirot) and high jump. They also won gold in baseball and women’s volleyball, one bronze in men’s judo, one gold, one silver, and two bronze in women’s judo, one silver in weightlifting, one silver and one bronze in men’s fencing, one gold and one bronze in freestyle wrestling, and one gold and two bronze in Greco-Roman wrestling. Cuba finished in fifth place in gold medals (fourteen) and fifth place in total medals (thirty-one). Comparable results for Cuba continued through 2004.

In 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, Cuban medals included four gold (including Savón ) and three silver medals in boxing, one gold in women’s judo, gold in baseball and women’s volleyball, one gold and one silver in Greco- Roman wrestling, one bronze in freestyle wrestling, one gold in weightlifting, silver in the women’s 800 meters (Ana Quirot), one silver in men’s fencing, one silver in women’s judo, one silver in men’s swimming, bronze in triple jump, one bronze in men’s fencing, three bronze in women’s and one bronze in men’s judo, and one bronze in men’s swimming.

In 2000 in Sydney, Australia, Cubans won four gold (including Savón) and two bronze medals in boxing, gold in men’s 110-meter hurdles and long jump, silver in men’s triple jump and high jump (Sotomayor), bronze in men’s, bronze in women’s javelin (Osleidys Menéndez), one bronze in men’s fencing, two gold and two silver in women’s judo, and one bronze in men’s judo. They also won gold in women’s volleyball, one gold in Greco-Roman wrestling, one gold in men’s tae kwon do, one silver in women’s tae kwon do, silver in baseball, two silver in men’s flatwater canoe, two silver in Greco-Roman wrestling, and one silver and one bronze in men’s freestyle wrestling, tying for ninth place overall in gold (eleven) and in eighth place in total medals (twenty-nine).

Cuba’s Olympic successes continued in 2004 in Athens, Greece, with gold medals in women’s shot and javelin, silver and bronze in women’s hammer throw, bronze in men’s 110-meter hurdles, gold in baseball, five gold, three silver, and one bronze in boxing, one gold and one bronze in men’s freestyle wrestling and one silver in Greco-Roman wrestling, one silver in flatwater canoeing, one silver and four bronze in women’s judo, one bronze in men’s judo, one silver in women’s tae kwon do, one bronze in men’s shooting (skeet), and bronze in women’s volleyball, tying for ninth overall in gold (nine) and in eleventh place overall in total medals (twenty-seven).

Through 2004 Cubans had won sixty-five gold, fiftyfour silver, and fifty-two bronze Olympic medals, with most outstanding performances in boxing, women’s volleyball, and track and field.

Women and Cuban Sports

Postrevolution Cuba has given women many more opportunities than they had before to participate in sports and to develop into world-class athletes. Examples of the latter include Ana Fidelia Quirot (400 meters), María Colón (Olympic gold medalist in javelin), Osleidys Menéndez (present world record for javelin at 71.54 meters in 2001), Ioamnet Quintero (Pan Am high jump winner in 1991 and 1995), and Liliana Allen (100 meters and 200 meters).

Youth Sports

The Cuban model of sports proposes to expand mass participation in order to have the greatest chance of locating superior talent for international competition. Children who exhibit athletic ability are identified early in life and given opportunities to develop their ability. Sports schools (such as rural schools with sports emphasis, combining sports instruction with normal academic study) are available for all grade levels, and additional academies are specialized in particular sports or groups of related sports. Interscholastic sports competition is available from regional to national levels.

Higher-level training for the most accomplished athletes is available at other institutions and training centers, and the training of physical education teachers and coaches takes place at the university-level Instituto Superior de Cultura Física (Superior School of Physical Culture) in Havana and other teacher-training institutions in other parts of the country.

The Cuban Olympic Committee was established in 1926. The main sports organization in the country is the National Institute for Sports, Education, and Recreation.

Sports in Society

Prior to the revolution amateur sport had been largely the privilege of the socially and educationally elite class. Professional sports, in which anyone with enough talent could participate, included baseball and boxing. “Kid Chocolate” (Eligio Sardiñas) was Cuba’s best-known professional boxer. After the revolution, the government’s policy was to make sport available to all Cubans, to encourage talented children to develop their sport abilities, and to raise the level of Cuban elite sport to levels where international victories could bring prestige to the nation. Cubans had sports victories that surpassed expectations, remarkable performances including Alberto Juantorena’s Olympic gold in 400 meters and 800 meters in 1976 and Javier Sotomayor’s many medals and current world record in men’s high jump (2.45 meters in 1993). In addition to programs that developed superior athletes, socialist Cuba promoted sporting and recreational activities for people in the military, workers, women, and the general population, both in cities and the countryside, with goals of attaining health and fitness.

Many principles used to develop Cuban sports were based on the Soviet model, and the Soviet Union supplied technical consultants for training athletes. Cuba also has provided many coaches to other nations—for example, in Central America—to help them develop elite athletes in many Olympic-type sports. In the absence of major governmental changes and/or negative economic conditions in the future, it is expected that Cuba will continue to stress sport for all and, especially, the preparation of superior competitive athletes.

Richard V. McGehee