Cuba at the Alba Games (III)

 Host Venezuela "pays in kind" to Cuba

Special Service

The host Venezuela paid Cuba in kind with its A and B teams in the 2nd edition of the Alba Games, winning the multidisciplinary competition with 253 gold, 160 silver and 153 bronze medals, followed by Cuba (200-112-66) and the local B team (18-112-133).

In the first version, the Cuban teams came first (286-156-138) and third (17-22-30), in that order, while the Venezuelans finished second (74-143-106).

Caracas hosted the event from April 27 to May 12, 2007, once again with the objective of uniting the races and people of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Due to the proximity in time with the Pan American Games of Rio de Janeiro of the same year, the event was a gage for the national teams present, since more than 90 % of the disciplines summoned were repeated in the Rio de Janeiro city.

According to sources consulted, more than 4,400 athletes from 31 countries participated, fought for 576 titles, without forgetting the terms of friendship and goodwill, passionately defended their position in the 45 sports of the competition program.

Of course, Venezuela - three teams - presented the largest delegation with 1,754 athletes, followed by Cuba (824), Nicaragua (250), Chile (261), Panama (166) and the Netherlands Antilles (141).

Before the opening, the occasion was used to host the 1st Scientific Congress of Alba, from April 23 to 25, which included lectures, presentations, courses-workshops and round tables with the presence of specialists from Spain, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and the host country. Afterwards, the Second Meeting of Sports Federations of Havana and Caracas was held.

As regards sports, records were also set: weightlifting (40), athletics and swimming (32), archery (28), shooting (16) and cycling (7).

The 3rd edition of the Games returns to Havana, from April 15 to 28, 2009, with the participation of 3,152 athletes from 28 nations in 29 sports.