Cali, November 20 (ACN) Cuba officially registered 212 athletes and increased the number of events in which it will participate to 90 in the I Junior Pan American Games of Cali 2021, whose opening ceremony will be held on November 25th in this Colombian city.
The figures were recorded during a long working session, in which officials from the Cuban delegation exchanged information about these and other topics with experts from the organizing team of the multi-sport event, convened for the 41 Olympic committees of the continent.
José Antonio Miranda, director general of High Performance at the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER), explained that the largest of the Antilles will depend on 117 boys and 95 girls, and increased its presence in the competitive calendar with the inclusion in the mixed team judo tournament.
Read: Cuban delegation to attend I Junior Pan American Games (+ Photos)
"It is an option that we had pending and we were able to make it happen, which offers another possibility for the athletes who will be in the individual competition," added the specialist, who pointed out that there will now be 131 events without Cuban participation.
Miranda expressed satisfaction with the results of the discussions held this Friday, when in addition to the registration matters, other important issues were discussed in detail, such as medical care, accommodation, transportation, and food.
"In all cases, the organizing committee presented well-structured plans that seem destined to guarantee the responses demanded by an event like this," he commented.
Cuba will have actions in 26 of the 33 sports called and will experience its first trial by fire before the official opening of the event, as the women's handball competition begins next Tuesday and on that day their team will compete against Paraguay's.
Preliminary data place Mexico as the largest delegation, with 383, followed by Colombia (378), Brazil (359), and Argentina (276), members of the quintet preceding the Cuban delegation.