At his own request, he is already in Havana, where he was received at the José Martí International Airport by Dr. Pablo Castillo Díaz, director of the Institute of Sports Medicine, who welcomed him on behalf of the Cuban sports movement and people.

Speaking to Jit, Castillo recalled that Veitía fell ill during a family visit to Spain. There he was treated. Based on the health situation presented, the Inder collaborated with his return to the country and will guarantee his medical care together with the Ministry of Health. He will be treated at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital.

Ihosvany Veitía, son of the emblematic coach, accompanied him from Alicante to Havana. He emphasized that his father has a happy smile since he learned of his return to the homeland.

“My dad is proud of his Cubanness. I want to thank all the efforts made by Inder, the Cuban government and its consulate in Spain, for the rapid processing of everything and for the support they have given us to have him here”, he stressed.

Upon his arrival, Professor Veitía received the affection and admiration of the Inder officials and the workers of the capital’s air terminal.

(With information from Jit)

First the six Greco-Roman style fighters, then four of Cuba’s six female wrestlers, and finally five free-style gladiators all won tickets to the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima.

Cuba’s entire free-style team secured all their tickets to next year’s regional tournament, except for bronze medal winner Alejandro Valdés who was unable to compete following an elbow injury, clearing the way for the Dominican Republic’s Albaro Rudesindo, also a bronze medal winner, to snatch the spot.

Valdés was treated by the technical team and was the only fighter not to make it to the final after losing 9-10 in the semifinal, against Logan Stieber of the United States.

With his injury taking him out of the running for the silver medal, Valdés was determined to secure bronze against Canada’s Michael Asselstine, which he did with a score of 10-0 and 2:43 minutes to spare before the end of the final match.

Meanwhile, Reineri Andreu (57kg) gave Cuba its first gold after defeating Colombia’s Oscar Tigreros 10-0 in the final, and 2017 World silver medalist Thomas Gilman of the United States in the semifinal.

Andreu was followed by López (74kg) who defeated Nazar Kulchytsky also from the United States, 6-1.

Reineris Salas meanwhile, won his fifth Pan American championship title after beating Kyven Gadson (USA), 9-2 in the 97kg division.

In other final matches, Yurieski Torreblanca took silver after losing 2-3 to David Taylor (USA) in the 86kg division, as did Yudenny Alpajón, who was defeated 0-9 by Nicholas Gwiazdowski (USA).

(Granma)