Fidel, a man who loved sports as a right of the people

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 10 (ACN) An advocate of sports as a right of the people and main spirit behind Cuba's victories after 1959, Fidel Castro Ruz (1926-2016) always displayed his love for the athletic movement in competitions at home and abroad.

As a man of the people and a sportsman at heart, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution—who would have turned 96 on August 13—-was always close to the athletes of a small country that gradually became a giant in international sports scenes.

His imprint is inextricably linked to the great performances of Cuban athletes, even in Olympic Games, as in the recent case of Tokyo 2020, where the Island had remarkable results to finish 14th with seven gold, three silver and five bronze medals.

Loved by an entire people who learned to follow his example, Fidel won the sympathy and affection of every athlete whose results repaid his brilliant idea of taking sports to every corner of the nation. Without him, it would have been very difficult for Cuba to boast figures of the stature of the runners Alberto Juantorena and Ana Fidelia Quirot, the boxers Teófilo Stevenson and Félix Savón, the high-jumper Javier Sotomayor and the wrestling legend Mijaín López, who won his fourth Olympic title in Japan.

They are all, along with many others, the fruit of a Revolution that saw the birth of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) on February 23, 1961 thanks to Fidel, who also played a role in eliminating professionalism in 1962 and turning physical activity into a right of the people.

For this and other reasons, the 96th anniversary of the birth of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz should be celebrated with joy on August 13 to pay a well-deserved tribute to the exceptional man who championed sports practice the length and breadth of a small country of great champions.