Radio Havana Cuba-Olympics Update-15 Septembre 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Olympics Update - 15 September 2000 SYDNEY: THE GAMES OF THE NEW MILLENIUM Sydney, September 15 (RHC)-- Australia opened the 2000 Summer Games, Friday night with Australian sprinter and aborigine Cathy Freeman lighting the Olympic cauldron amid a waterfall. The spectacle ended a four-and-a-half-hour show, sampling every facet of the country's rich heritage. Athletes from North and South Korea were the most moving symbol of the Olympic spirit, marching together for the first time in over 50 years and receiving a standing ovation from the crowd. The Olympic torch took 100 days to arrive to Sydney and the culmination of the relay race to carry the flame from Greece to the Olympic Stadium rested upon one of the best Australian athletes of the moment. She is the first aborigine woman ever to represent Australia at Olympic games and the first one to become world champ. Freeman is two-times world champ in women's 400 meters. Silver in Atlanta, Freeman made the headlines in 1994 when after winning gold at the Commomwealth Games, she covered her body with the aboriginal flag, unleashing a nationwide controversy. However, this time, she has said if she wins gold, she will be carrying the two flags. Along with swimmer Ian Thorpe, Freeman is a idol in Australia. Her presence in the lighting ceremony is also a tribute to the 100th anniversary of women's participation at the Olympic games. Native Australians number 350,000 among the country's 19 million inhabitants. International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch congratulated organizers of the games for the excellent preparation of the games of the New Millenium. This way, Samaranch puts his personal seal of approval on the last Olympics under his reign. He is to leave the presidency in July of next year. Samaranch's welcoming was extended to all participants and sports fans, Australian citizens who made the games possible and TV viewers around the world. PEDROSO AND LAMELA FOR THE GOLD IN MEN'S LONG JUMP Sydney, September 15 (RHC)-- Jumpers Ivan Pedroso of Cuba and Yago Lamela from Spain are dreaming about reaching the Olympic throne in men's long jump, a post that has remained in the hands of the U.S.'s Carl Lewis since the 1984 Olympic Games. Pedroso is the current world champ for the past three years and appears as a sure candidate for this coveted title. He holds the best mark of the season with 8.65 meters, but will have not only the fierce opposition of Lamela, last year's world silver medal winner, but also another Cuban, Luis Meliz and Melvin Lister from the United States. Lister will be trying to maintain the hegemony of his country in this discipline. In the history of the Olympic Games, the U.S. has accumulates 21 medals in 24 games. The only athletes that have reached the Olympic title in men's long jump that are not from the U.S. are Swedish William Petersson in Amberes, 1920; British Lynn Davis in Tokyo, 1964; and German Lutz Dombrowski in Moscow 1980. The other very interesting aspect of men's long jump competitions is to see if the current Olympic record of 8.90 meters, established by Bob Beamon in 1968, resists the test of time. Men's long jump competitions will be taking place September 25th and 26th. THE CUBAN WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TEAM GOES FOR ITS THIRD OLYMPIC TITLE Sydney, September 15 (RHC) -- The two times Olympic champ, Cuban women's volleyball team, will have Germany for its first opponent on the road of keeping the title -- for the third consecutive time. Olympic volleyball competitions get underway Saturday with the Brazil-Kenia and Peru-Russia games. Peru and Cuba are part of Group B, while Brazil and Kenia represent Group A. For Cuba and Brazil, which are also seeking to reach the top in Sydney, this first presentation should be a mere routine. Peru, whose arsenal is far from that power that took the team to the silver medal at the Seoul 1988 games, will have in Russia a very hard nut to crack. Peru will have a more favorable position against Germany and South Korea with better chances to get the ticket for the quarter finals. That would even mean a better performance than that of Peru in Atlanta, where the country finished in 11th position. The other three places within Group B are reserved for Cuba, Russia and Italy which could be the surprise of the tournament. Meanwhile, within Group A, Brazil, bronze in Atlanta and China, silver that same year, are definitely possible quarter finalists. On the other hand, the U.S., Australia and Croacia will be fighting for the remaining places. The biggest attraction of these competitions falls on whether or not Cuba will be able to reach its third title. Veteran players like Regla Bell, Regla Torres, Marlenis Costa, Idalmis Gato and Mireya Luis who have a solid reputation to contribute to this dream, are part of the team. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: BRAZIL WANTS TO REMAIN IN Sydney, September 15 (RHC)-- In women's basketball, Brazil, though it will be playing without two of its biggest stars of the decade, Hortensia and Paula, the team's conviction is to remain in the elite. On Saturday, Brazil will be facing Slovania, one of its most fierce opponents. Brazil admits players will have to control their anxiety during the opening game. Slovania is a young team but during the classificatory rounds for the games, they defeated the United States. That victory is a warning signal for Brazil. Along with the South American giant and the European country in Group A are Australia, Senegal, France and Canada. Cuba besides the United States, South Korean, Russian, Poland and New Zealand make up group B. TEN LATIN AMERICAN BOXERS CLIMB INTO THE RING ON SATURDAY Sydney, September 15 (RHC)-- Boxing is one of the 17 sports that get underway tomorrow, though sports activities have been taking place since September 13th with soccer competitions. Boxing will be on for two full weeks and the fights kick off with bouts in the 54 and 67 kilo divisions. 10 Latin American boxers climb into the ring. The first two Cubans that will have that honor are Roberto Guerra in 54 against Ellis Chibuye from Zimbabwe and Guillermo Rigondeaux in 54 vs. Moez Zemzemi from Tunisia. Argentina has brought seven boxers to Sydney, including Ceferino Labarda. Puerto Rico's Orlando Cruz; Yovanny Lorenzo from the Dominican Republic, Mexican Cesar Morales and Venezuelan Cermeno Nehomar are part of the list of boxers in action tomorrow. Cuba, Russia and the United States are the only three nations with complete teams in Sydney. CUBA GOES FOR MEDALS DURING THE FIRST DAY OF COMPETITIONS IN SYDNEY Sydney, September 15 (RHC)-- On Saturday, Cuba will make its Olympic debut in Sydney with good chances to win medals during the first day of competitions. In judo, Manolo Poulot, world champion in 60 kilos, and Amarilis Savon, silver world medallist in 48, are the favorites to get medals of any color. In the women's 48 kilo division, specialists predict a re-make of the 1999 World Judo Championship final in Birmingham, where Amarilis lost to Japanese Ryoko Tamura. Another athlete from the island who will be competing on Saturday with good chances for a medal is epee fencer Ivan Trevejo, silver medallist of the 1996 Atlanta Games, who will join the Cuban epee team along with Carlos Pedroso and Nelson Loyola. During the first day of competitions, there will also be medals in cycling and shooting competitions. For Cuba, Julio Cesar Herrera will participate in the one-kilometer time trial, while Eunice Caballero and Norbelis Barzaga will compete in air rifle and air pistol, respectively. The other Cuban involved in the medals dispute on Saturday will be 56 kilo weightlifter Sergio Alvarez, world silver medal in snatch. However, this time he will have to do better in order to walk away with a medal, considering that in weightlifting, Olympic medals are not granted separately -- that is, in "snatch" and in "clean and jerk"-- but to the sum of both of them. Boxing preliminaries also begin on Saturday. Roberto Guerra in 67 kilos, and Guillermo Rigondeaux in 54, will be representing Cuba. Also participating in preliminaries will be gymnasts Erik Lopez and Lazaro Lamelas as well as Yaremis Perez, Edisbel Martinez, Ismel Arias and Juan Carlos Stevens in archery. In women's basketball, Cuba will face Russia while in men's handball, the island's team will take on Germany. In the meantime, in women's volleyball, Cuba's national team will have an easy start up against Germany and, in beach volleyball, the Cuban duet will face the Brazilian representatives. TRAIN COLLISION EXPECTED ON SATURDAY IN THE JUDO DEBUT Sydney, September 15 (RHC)-- In judo, the highly-anticipated final between Cuban Amarilis Savon and Japanese Ryoko Tamura, in 48 kilos, has indeed many possibilities to take place in Sydney after the match was announced on Friday. Amarilis, bronze in the Barcelona and Atlanta Games and silver in the 1999 World Judo Championship, was included in Group B and will make her debut against Ja Park Sung from South Korea. For her part, Tamura, Olympic silver in Atlanta and World Champion in 1999, will face the winner of the bout between South African Tania Tallie and Chinese Shunxin Zhao. Important rivals in this division are German Ana Maria Garante and French Sarah Nichilo-Rosso, both bronze medalists in the 1999 world event. For his part, world champion Manolo Poulot, in men's 60 kilos, will open the competition facing Russian Yevgeny Estanev in Group B, where Japanese Tadahiro Nomur is also included. Nomur took the place of world silver medallist Tokuno Kazuiko, who was not abel to attend the games. Pool A includes1999 world bronze medallists Natsika Bagirov from Belarus and Nestor Kergiani from Georgia. CUBA'S COOPERATIVE SPIRIT PRESENT IN SYDNEY Sydney, September 15 (RHC)-- Uruguay is attending the 27th Olympic Games with a delegation of 15 athletes who will be compiting in track and field, cycling, equestrian, shooting, sailing, judo and swimming. Ibrahim Saldivar is a Cuban swimming trainer who has been in Uruguay during the last six months as part of a cooperation agreement between Havana and Montevideo. He is currently in Sydney with four of his pupils who will participate in the Olympic event. Saldivar told Radio Havana Cuba that he feels more than pleased, because when he arrived in Uruguay six months ago, not even one single swimmer of that country was classified for the Olympics. He went on to say that after only five months of hard work, he has managed to bring four of them to Sydney. Although Uruguay has never won an Olympic medal, Saldivar said he is confident that Cuba's cooperation will, in the long run, help the South American nation make that dream come true. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. Todos los derechos reservados. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= rhc-eng-5716 2000-Sep-15 18:46:29