Castro lauds his athletes
HAVANA (Reuter) - The Cuban President, Fidel Castro, has congratulated Cuba's Olympic athletes, saying they had shown patriotic and revolutionary spirit to win a historic fifth place in the medals table at Barcelona.
'I congratulate you, I hail you and I embrace you in the name of the people,' an emotional President told the athletes during a reception at the Palace of the Revolution, headquarters of the ruling Cuban Communist Party.
Cuba crowned its return to the Olympic arena after a 12-year absence by winning 31 medals, 14 of them gold; it was the country's best-ever performance. Cuba boycotted the Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988 for political reasons.
President Castro told the Cuban Olympic team: 'I was impressed by your patriotic and revolutionary spirit.'
Cuba finished fifth behind the Commonwealth of Independent States, the United States, Germany and China. It was the best- placed Latin American country, ahead of Brazil which came 25th.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies