Cuba on the road to the Central American and Caribbean Games

The current sports season will have an important moment in the Central American and Caribbean Games - scheduled to take place June 23 to July 8 in San Salvador - as part of the preparation of the athletes of the region for the current Olympic cycle, and as a gauge of the potential of each country in the fight for medals.

El Salvador will host for the third time the oldest regional multisport event in the world, as its capital had already hosted the 3rd edition (1935) and the 19th (2002).

The 24th Games were scheduled for 2022, but sanitary tensions still existing due to COVID-19 forced their postponement.

In these events, Cuba leads the historical medal tally with 1,752 titles, 889 silver medals and 679 bronze ones, followed by Mexico (the only nation present in all the Games since it hosted the first ones in 1926), with a balance of 1,367, 1,333 and 1,178, and Venezuela (564-782-918), in that order.

However, the Mexican nation holds the highest total number of medals (3,878), followed by the Cuba (3,320) and Venezuela (2,264), respectively.

For different reasons, Cuba was absent from three of the 23 versions held to date: Caracas (1959), San Salvador (2002) and Mayagüez (2010).

It has dominated the lids in Havana 1930 and 1982, Barranquilla 1946, Panama City 1970, Santo Domingo 1974, Medellin 1978, Santiago de los Caballeros 1986, Mexico City 1990, Ponce 1993, Maracaibo 1998, Cartagena 2006 and Veracruz 2014.

Likewise, it accumulates six second places: Mexico City (1926 and 1954), San Salvador (1935), Guatemala City (1950), San Juan (1966) and Barranquilla (2018); as well as two third places, in Panama City 1938 and Kingston 1962.

For Cuba, Mexico is a difficult rival, which already displaced it from the top of the standings in the last edition of the competition and thus broke its chain of triumphs reported since 1970 and until 2014 (Veracruz, Mexico).

Hence, for these Games, this country is the favorite to lead the medal table, since the Cubans must win more than 124 golden metals to aspire to win the event, according to José Antonio Miranda, general director of high performance at the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation.

To be included among the first three countries - out of 34 confirmed - is the option that best suits the potential of the national delegation.

This regional leadership has an additional importance, since it will grant tickets in 12 disciplines for the Pan American Games, scheduled from October 20 to November 5 in Santiago de Chile.