Cuba at the Alba Games (VI-FINAL)

Cuba for fourth crown at the 5th Alba Games
Although Cuba's main objective at the 5th ALBA Games is to continue its preparation for the Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023, it also has the possibility of achieving its fourth title at the Venezuelan multidisciplinary event, which is being held in Caracas, the main venue, April 19 through April 21.

The proximity of the Central Caribbean event in El Salvador, from June 23 to July 8, forces specialists to focus on that aspect, but the fact of the first places in the I, II and IV editions also influences when thinking about forecasts, mainly in the followers of the sport in Cuba, the largest of the Antilles.

With the flag bearers Milaimis de la Caridad Marin, U23 world champion wrestler, and athlete Eduardo Napoles, the young Cuban delegation officialized a delegation of 265 athletes - 138 men and 107 women - distributed in 18 disciplines, with presence in the three competition venues, since La Guaira and Miranda will also receive competitors.

During the flag delivery ceremony to the delegation, Edwin Diaz, Chargé d'Affaires of the Venezuelan Embassy to Cuba, highlighted the historical significance of the Alba Games, created by leaders Fidel Castro Ruz and Hugo Chavez Frias as a symbol of brotherhood among the people of America.

The 5th version of the Games welcomes 3,500 athletes from 11 nations of Alba and Russia as guest, who participate in 33 disciplines in first class facilities.

Data provided by the organizers specify that the athletes will fight for the 1,339 medals in dispute, divided into 401 gold, 401 silver and 537 bronze medals.

Taking into account the medals won in the four previous editions, Cuba and Venezuela should be the main protagonists of the South American competition, without forgetting the important support of the Venezuelan fans.

In the first one, the host Cuba, with its A team, dominated the actions, with 286 gold, 156 silver and 138 bronze medals, followed by Venezuela (74-143-106) and Cuba B (17-22-30), respectively, while Venezuela A (253-160-153) won the second ones, escorted by Cuba (200-112-66) and the local B (18-112-133), in that order.

The Cuban athletes (153-117-525), returned to the top in the third edition, ahead of the Venezuelans (98-138-151) and the Chileans (32-29-35), repeated as visitors the crown in the fourth (162-75-111), ahead of the South American hosts (155-192-111) and the podium debutant, Ecuador (21-35-48), just like Chile in the previous edition.