1. Cuba- Drugs and scandals

Unfortunately, Cuba is already a nightmare in the Olympic Movement. Why? Since 1964, Cuba has produced athletes with a huge superiority complex and strong anti-American sentiment. They have shown this anti-Olympic sentiment many times. Angel Volodia Matos Fuentes, a Cuban taekwondo athlete, is the only athlete in Olympic history to have beaten a referee. This athlete kicked a referee in the face after losing a match at the 2008 Olympics. “We did not expect anything like what you witnessed to happen. I am speechless. This is an insult to the Olympic vision, an insult to the spirit of taekwondo and, in my opinion, an insult to humanity. ” “said Yang Jin-suk (secretary of the World Taekwondo Federation). Angel won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

In Atlanta in 1996, the Cuban women’s volleyball team fought the Brazilian team during the semifinals. That is why Regla Radameris Torres Herrera, who has received several offers to become a top model in Italy, was suspended and could not play for several months. Cuban female volleyball players are famous for their aggressiveness in front of their rivals.

Cuban Javier Sotomayor Sanabria will be remembered as one of the worst examples in the world sports community. In 1988, Prensa Latina -Cuban news agency- announced that Javier Sotomayor was named “Cuban Athlete of the Year” in its annual poll of sportswriters. He beat Felix Savon (boxing), Jorge Fis (Judo) and Ana Fidelia Quirot (track and field). Javier, known as “Soto”, was one of the most successful athletes in the history of the Cuban Revolution.

On September 8, 1988 Javier – whose country had boycotted the 1988 Summer Olympics – set a world record in high jump. A year later he set another world record (2.45 m / 8’1 / 2 “). Under the direction of José Godoy, a teacher educated in the Soviet Union, he won almost all of his competitions in the 1990s.

In 2001, Javier Sotomayor, in one of a series of exhibition tournaments, tested positive for a muscle-building steroid. “The decision to let him compete again is like a blow to my face,” said Arne Ljungqvist (IAAF Vice President). Two years ago, Javier had also tested positive for drugs at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. . However, he had been exonerated by the Cuban Olympic Committee. In addition, Fidel Castro Ruz – the dictator of Cuba – denied that Javier had used cocaine. In an article in Granma (a Communist Party newspaper), Javier said “I am innocent. I have only seen that substance in movies. I am the victim of a maneuver, a trap.”

Unlike Ben Johnson and Linford Christie, Javier received special treatment from the IAAF. It was banned by the IAAF for just 11 months. Thanks to this, Javier Sotomayor was able to compete in the 2000 Olympic Games, where he obtained a silver medal. Three European countries, Norway, Finland and Denmark, criticized this controversial decision. “If he tests positive and gets suspended, he shouldn’t get a reduced sentence just because he’s a famous track athlete,” said Patrick Sjoberg, a former world record holder in the men’s high jump.

2. Myanmar: sports and dictatorships

Olympic sport can unify a country like Myanmar, an Asian country that has many ethnic conflicts. However, -pop. 52 million – has one of the worst Olympic teams in the world. In the last fifty years, three dictatorships have destroyed the Olympic spirit in this land of friendly people. For unknown reasons, Myanmar did not compete in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada. In 1980, Sue Khin finished 47th in the Moscow Summer Games marathon. Four years later, Myanmar – officially changed its name from Burma in 1989 – sent 1 athlete (boxer) to Los Angeles (USA). In 1996, Myanmar was represented by only 3 athletes (athletics and shooting).

At the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar, Myanmar finished 27th in the unofficial team ranking (behind China, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Jordan, Lebanon, etc.). In an interview, Khin Maung Lwin, Secretary of the Myanme Olympic Committee, said: “Our NOC has worked closely with the respective national sports federations to make all the necessary preparations for participation in Doha 2006. We have selected the athletes who showed their best form and obtained the best results from the 23rd SEA Games for the 15th Asian Games in Doha 2006. As a founding member of the Federation of Asian Games in 1949 and the Olympic Council of Asia, we believe that the Asian Games are a very useful tool. important for the development of the youth of Asia and for the promotion of international respect, friendship and goodwill … “

3. Albania: the legacy of Enver Hoxha

What is the reason why Albania does not produce world class athletes? Albania is known for its disregard for sports. It is one of the few European countries that does not have Olympic champions. Albania was one of the countries that failed the most in the 2008 Summer Olympics in the People’s Republic of China.

Like Mao Tse-tung (Chinese dictator, 1949-1976) and Pol Pot (Cambodian tyrant, 1975-1979), Enver Hoxha did not support friendly relations with the International Olympic Committee. From 1950 to 1985, Enver Hoxha, one of the bloodiest dictators of the 20th century, earned a reputation as an anti-Olympic leader in the world. During his Maoist dictatorship, Albania boycotted seven Olympic Games (Rome ’60, Tokyo ’64, Mexico City ’68, Montreal ’76, Moscow ’80, Los Angeles ’84, Seoul ’88), seven Mediterranean Games (Beirut ’59 , Naples ’63, Tunisia ’67, Izmir ’71, Algiers ’75, Split ’79, Casablanca ’83) and other international events (Winter Games, University World Games, World Championships, European tournaments). By 1985, two weightlifters had defected to Yugoslavia (now Serbia).

Since 1991, the new government has no interest in sports and recreation. This European nation is losing its best athletes, who choose to live abroad and not return to Albania. Many Greek athletes have Albanian ancestry: Leonidas Sampani (weightlifting), Sawa Lika (track and field), Pyrro Dimas (weightlifting / Olympic champion, 1992, 1996, 2000), Mirela Manjani (athletics). At the 2003 World Championships, Mirela won a gold medal. Albania has been a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1959.

4.Taiwan is not Ethiopia

Who was the last world-class athlete from Taiwan? His name: Chi Cheng (1959-1972). This Olympic ambassador has been called “the flying antelope of the east.” At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City in October, she, who studied and trained in California, won a bronze medal in the 80-meter low hurdles. Two years later, he broke world records in the 100 m (11.00 seconds) and 200 m (22.44 seconds) in July 1970, but failed at the 1972 Olympics. Unexpectedly, he was injured. Chi Cheng was the favorite to win the gold medal in the 200 meters. To prepare for the Munich Games, he competed in Asia, Europe and the United States. In 1972, he announced that he was retiring from athletics. In 1971, she was voted “World Athlete of the Year” by the Associated Press. In this election, he beat Edson Arantes do Nascimento, one of the best athletes of all time. Since 1972, Taiwan continues to hold Chi Cheng’s world records.

Unfortunately, Taiwan cannot produce world-class athletes.

This Asian country – also known as ROC, Chinese Taipei, Republic of China in Taiwan or Free China – has 10,000 stadiums, 1,850 swimming pools, 1,420 tennis courts, 14,252 sports parks, more than 762 gyms, about 9,100 basketball courts and handball, and 87 cycle tracks. With more than double the budget of Jamaica, Ethiopia and North Korea, Taiwan has only won two gold medals (1960-2008). In the 1996 Games, China-Taipei sent 71 athletes and won a silver medal (table tennis).

They have not learned from the experience of South Korea, whose athletes have won 85 gold medals, the best unconventional diplomacy in the world. A good example for a country that does not have full diplomatic relations with 180 nations. Chinese Taipei, one of the most successful democracies in the developing world, is only recognized by 23 countries: Belize, Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Gambia, Guatemala, Holy See, Haiti, Honduras, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, Swaziland, Tuvalu.

5. Iceland: a country without Olympic champions

Iceland, a North Atlantic nation near the Arctic Circle, never won an Olympic medal at the Winter Games. It is one of the oldest Olympic countries in the world (IOC member since 1921). Classified by the United Nations as one of the richest countries in the world, Iceland has several sports facilities: indoor stadiums, winter Olympic stadiums, sports parks and swimming pools. Many people cannot believe that one of the richest nations in Europe cannot win a winter Olympic medal. Unlike Iceland, Liechtenstein, an area the size of the District of Columbia, has won two Olympic titles and 58 world championships. Iceland – slightly larger than South Korea – participated in 15 editions of the Winter Games between 1948 and 2006. Glíma, a traditional wrestling, is Iceland’s national sport.

References

-Agacino, Ricardo. “30 years”, Cuba International, Havana, December 1988

-Almanaque Deportivo Mundial 1976, editorial América, Panama,

1976 – “Castro defends a fighter against prohibition”, The Miami Herald, August 26, 2008

-Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year: 1977, 1981, 1984, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chicago

-The World Almanac and Book of Facts: 1975-2007, The World Almanac Books, New York

-Guevara Onofre, Alejandro. Encyclopedia Mundototal, editorial San Marcos, Lima, 1999

——– “The silent fall of Cuban sports”. Lima, September 5, 2005

-Human development reports: 1996-2007

-Martínez Pérez, Pedro. “Sports development in Cuba”, Granma, Havana, May 28, 1978

-Yearbook of the Republic of China. Taiwan 2002

-Urbano, Fernando. “Del Batos a Montreal”, Cuba Internacional, Havana, June 1978

—— “Right to Sports”, Cuba Internacional, Havana, July 1976

-Athens 2004 Official Report Volume 1, International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, 2005

-2000 Official Sydney Report Volume 2, International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, 2001

-1984 Official Los Angeles Report Volume 2, International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, 1985

-1980 Official Moscow Report Volume 2, International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, 1981

-1976 Montreal Official Report Volume 1, International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, 1977

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *