Cuba at the Alba Games (II)

 

Cuba A tops 1st edition of the Alba Games
Special Service

The host Cuba, with its A team, dominated the 1st edition of the Alba Games, held in Havana, with 286 gold, 156 silver and 138 bronze medals, a multidisciplinary event that brought together 2,000 athletes from 18 countries, divided into 31 sports, from June 17 to 30, 2005.

Their closest pursuers were Venezuela (74-143-106) and Cuba B (17-22-30).

But in the so-called sports festival of the Latin American and Caribbean nations, promoted by the Caribbean island nation and Venezuela, other countries in the region, such as Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and El Salvador, also got the attention of their youth teams, which were in the midst of their preparatory cycle for international events.

Two Cubans, swimmer Imaday Nuñez and artistic gymnast Abel Drigs, stood out as individual athletes, while the main host and sub-host provinces received recognition from the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation ( INDER by its Spanish acronym) for the organization demonstrated in the development of the event.

The occasion was also used to pay tribute to Cuban Sports Glories, vanguard workers of the organization.

For his part, Eduardo Alvarez, Venezuela's Minister of Sports, acknowledged his satisfaction for his country's performance in the competition focused on the 2005 Bolivarian Games in Colombia.

The closing ceremony was a true sports-cultural activity that brought together musicians from Venezuela and Cuba in a brotherly hug in a song for peace, friendship and Latin American and Caribbean integration.

Undoubtedly, there were many pleasant memories of that day in which, once again, sport united the people, who have been engaged since then in the preparations for the second edition, whose venue was Caracas, Venezuela, from April 27 to May 12, 2007, with 4,400 sportsmen and women from 30 countries, divided into 34 disciplines.