Cuba at the 2008 Summer Olympics explained

Noc:	CUB
Nocname:	Cuban Olympic Committee
Games:	Summer Olympics
Year:	2008
Location:	Beijing
Competitors:	149^[1]
Sports:	16
Flagbearer:	Mijaín López (opening) Leonel Suárez (closing)
Rank:	28
Gold:	3
Silver:	10
Bronze:	17
Appearances:	auto

Cuba competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. As of 8 August 2008, 165 Cuban athletes had qualified to compete in 16 sports.^[2] The country's flagbearer at the opening ceremony was wrestler Mijaín López.^[3]

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
			Men's Greco-Roman 120 kg
			Men's 110 m hurdles
			Women's hammer throw
			Women's points race
			Women's 48 kg
			Women's 70 kg
			Women's 78 kg
	Cuba national baseball team		Men's tournament
			Middleweight
			Welterweight
			Flyweight
			Bantamweight
			Shot put
			Men's 66 kg
			Women's 50 m rifle 3 positions
			Men's +100 kg
			Women's +78 kg
			Men's long jump
			Women's 49 kg
			Light flyweight
			Lightweight
			Light welterweight
			Heavyweight
			Men's decathlon
			Men's freestyle 96 kg
			Men's 69 kg
			Men's 85 kg
			Men's 94 kg
			Men's freestyle 120 kg
			Women's triple jump

Archery

See main article: article and Archery at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Cuba sent archers to the Olympics for the third time, seeking the nation's first Olympic medal in the sport. Juan Carlos Stevens earned the country its only qualifying spot, in the men's competition, by placing second in the 2008 Pan American championship.^[4]

Athletics

See main article: article and Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Cuba sent 40 representatives in athletics.^[5]

Men

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
William Collazo	400 m	45.37	3 Q	45.06	6	Did not advance
Andy González	align=left rowspan=2	800 m	1:46.59	4	Did not advance
Yeimer López	1:45.66	1 Q	1:46.40	2 Q	1:45.88	6
Dayron Robles	110 m hurdles	13.39	1 Q	13.19	1 Q	13.12	1 Q	12.93
Henry Vizcaíno	100 m	10.28	4 q	10.33	5	Did not advance
Omar Cisneros William Collazo Yunior Díaz Yunier Perez	4 × 400 m relay	3:02.24	7	Did not advance

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Lázaro Borges	Pole vault		—	Did not advance
Anier Boué	Javelin throw	71.85	28	Did not advance
Ibrahim Camejo	Long jump	8.23	2 Q	8.20
Alexis Copello	Triple jump	17.09	13	Did not advance
Jorge Fernández	Discus throw	59.60	27	Did not advance
Héctor Dairo Fuentes	align=left rowspan=2	Triple jump	17.14	10 q	16.28	12
Arnie David Giralt	17.30	4 Q	17.52	4
Wilfredo Martínez	Long jump	8.07	6 q	8.19	5
Alexis Paumier	align=left rowspan=3	Shot put		—	Did not advance
Reinaldo Proenza	19.20	31	Did not advance
Carlos Véliz	19.58	24	Did not advance

Combined events – Decathlon

Athlete	Event	100 m				400 m					1500 m	Final	Rank
Yordanis García	Result	10.64	7.07	15.82	1.96	49.66	13.90	36.73	4.70	65.60	5:00.49	7992	14
Points	942	830	840	767	830	987	598	819	822	557
Leonel Suárez	Result	10.90	7.33	14.49	2.05	47.91	14.15	44.45	4.70	73.98	4:29.17	8527 NR
Points	883	893	758	850	913	955	756	819	950	750

Women

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Yenima Arencibia	100 m hurdles	13.43	6	Did not advance
Virgen Benavides	100 m	11.45	3 Q	11.40	5	Did not advance
Zulia Calatayud	800 m	2:00.34	1 Q	1.58.78	4	Did not advance
Roxana Díaz	200 m	23.09	3 Q	22.98	4 q	23.12	8	Did not advance
Indira Terrero	400 m	51.56	4 q	51.80	6	Did not advance
Anay Tejeda	100 m hurdles	12.84	2 Q		Did not advance
Zulia Calatayud Susana Clement Roxana Díaz Indira Terrero	4 × 400 m relay	3:25.46	2 Q	3:23.31 NR	6

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Yarelys Barrios	Discus throw	62.23	4	63.64	DSQ^[6]
Yunaika Crawford	Hammer throw	66.16	31	Did not advance
Yanet Cruz	Javelin throw	58.06	19	Did not advance
Yumileidi Cumbá	Shot put	17.60	20	Did not advance
Yania Ferrales	Discus throw	59.87	15	Did not advance
Mabel Gay	Triple jump	14.09	15	Did not advance
Misleydis González	Shot put	18.91	7 Q	19.50
Yarianna Martínez	Triple jump	13.96	21	Did not advance
Osleidys Menéndez	Javelin throw	60.51	11 q	63.35	6
Yipsi Moreno	Hammer throw	73.92	1 Q	75.20
align=left rowspan=2	Yargelis Savigne	Long jump	6.49	17	Did not advance
Triple jump	14.99	1 Q	15.05
Yarisley Silva	Pole vault	4.15	=27	Did not advance
Arasay Thondike	Hammer throw	68.74	15	Did not advance
Mailín Vargas	Shot put	18.47	14 Q	18.28	10

Combined events – Heptathlon

Athlete	Event				200 m			800 m	Final	Rank
Gretchen Quintana	Result	13.77	1.68	13.10	24.34	6.02	38.14	2:20.31	5830	25*
Points	1011	830	734	948	856	632	819

* The athlete who finished in second place, Lyudmila Blonska of the Ukraine, tested positive for a banned substance.^[7] Both the A and the B tests were positive, therefore Blonska was stripped of her silver medal, and Quintana moved up a position.

Baseball

See main article: article and Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Cuba earned a qualification spot in baseball by placing in the top two at the 2006 Americas Olympic Qualifying Event.

^[8]

width=170	Team	width=20	G	width=20	W	width=20	L	width=20	RS	width=20	RA	width=20	WIN%	width=20	GB	width=40	Tiebreaker
	7	7	0	41	22	1.000	-	-
	7	6	1	52	23	.857	1	-
	7	5	2	40	22	.714	2	-
	7	4	3	30	14	.571	3	-
	7	2	5	29	33	.286	5	1-0
	7	2	5	29	20	.286	5	0-1
	7	1	6	9	50	.143	6	1-0
	7	1	6	14	60	.143	6	0-1

Boxing

See main article: article and Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Cuba qualified ten boxers for the Olympic boxing tournament. The light heavyweight class was the only one in which Cuba did not qualify a boxer. Nine of the ten Cuban qualifiers did so at the first American qualifying tournament.^{[9] [10]} For the first time since the 1988 Olympic Games, Cuba did not win a gold medal.

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Yampier Hernández	Light flyweight	W 12–1	W 21–3	W 21–6	L 8–8^+	Did not advance
Andry Laffita	Flyweight		W 9–3	W 11–2	W 9–8	L 2–8
Yankiel León	Bantamweight		W 10–3	W 10–2	W 7–5	L 5–16
Idel Torriente	Featherweight	W 11–2	W 10–9	L 14–16	did not advance
Yordenis Ugás	Lightweight	W 21–3	W 10–2	W 11–7	L 8-15	Did not advance
Roniel Iglesias	Light welterweight	W 15–1	W 15–4	W 5–2	L 5–10	Did not advance
Carlos Banteaux	Welterweight		W 13–6	W 10–2	W 17–4	L 9–18
Emilio Correa	Middleweight	W 17–4	W 18–4	W 9–7	W 8–5	L 14-16
Osmay Acosta	Heavyweight		W 11–0	W 7–4	L 5–10	Did not advance
Robert Alfonso	Super heavyweight		L 3–5	did not advance

Canoeing

See main article: article and Canoeing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Sprint

Three Cuban canoers and one kayaker have qualified for the Olympic Games.^[11]

Athlete	Event	Heats		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Jorge García	Men's K-1 500 m	1:42:80	7 QS	1:49:08	8	did not advance
Men's K-1 1000 m	3:38:86	7 QS	3:41:22	5	did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Aldo Pruna	Men's C-1 500 m	1:51.11	5 QS	1:53.81	5	did not advance
Men's C-1 1000 m	4:02.35	3 QS	4:01.75	3 Q	3:59.09	9
align=left rowspan=2	Karel Aguilar Serguey Torres	Men's C-2 500 m	1:44.15	7 QS	1:43:64	5	did not advance
Men's C-2 1000 m	3:41.17	2 QF	3:48:88	9

Qualification Legend: QS = Qualify to semi-final; QF = Qualify directly to final

Cycling

See main article: article and Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Track

Sprint

Omnium

Diving

See main article: article and Diving at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Preliminaries		Semifinals		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Jorge Betancourt	align=left rowspan=2	3 m springboard	428.25	19	did not advance
Jorge Luis Pupo	388.70	27	did not advance
Jeinkler Aguirre	align=left rowspan=2	10 m platform	423.75	16 Q	414.20	15	did not advance
José Guerra	443.20	11 Q	438.80	11 Q	507.15	5
Erick Fornaris José Guerra	10 m synchronized platform	409.38	7

Fencing

See main article: article and Fencing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Women

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final /
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Misleydis Compañy	Individual foil	W 15–13	L 7–15	did not advance
Mailyn González	Individual sabre	W 15–7	L 11–15	did not advance

Judo

See main article: article and Judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Preliminary	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Repechage 3	Final /
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Yosmani Piker	−60 kg		L 0010–0100	did not advance
Yordanis Arencibia	−66 kg		W 1010–0000	W 0001–0000	W 0010–0000	L 0001–0020	W 0010–0001
Ronald Girones	−73 kg		L 0001-0010	did not advance
Oscar Cardenas	−81 kg		W 0110–0001	L 0000–1000	did not advance
Asley González	−90 kg		L 0000–1000	did not advance			L 0001–1001	did not advance
Oreidis Despaigne	−100 kg		W 0010–0000	L 0000–0001	did not advance
Óscar Brayson	+100 kg		W 1011–0000	W 1000–0000	W 1000–0000	L 0011–1010	W 0200–0000

Women

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Repechage 3	Final /
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Yanet Bermoy	−48 kg	W 1010–0000	W 0010–0001	W 0001–0000	W 1021–0000	L 0000–1100
Yagnelis Mestre	−52 kg	L 0000–0201	did not advance			L 0000–0001	did not advance
Yurisleydis Lupetey	−57 kg	W 0111–0000	L 0000–1000	did not advance
Driulis González	−63 kg		W 0010–0001	W 0010–0000	L 0000–1011	L 0000–0001	5
Anaysi Hernández	−70 kg		W 1000–0100	W 1000–0000	W 1000–0010	L 0000–1000
Yalennis Castillo	−78 kg	W 1021–0000	W 1000–0000	W 0030–0000	W 0001–0000	L 0000–0000
Idalys Ortiz	+78 kg		W 0110–0000	W 1000–0000	L 0000–0010	W 1000–0000

Modern pentathlon

See main article: article and Modern pentathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Rowing

See main article: article and Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Eyder Batista Yunior Perez	Lightweight double sculls	6:19.36	4 R	6:40.15	2 SA/B	6:33.60	3 FA	6:19.96	6
Yuleidys Cascaret Janier Concepción Ángel Fournier Yoennis Hernández	Quadruple sculls	5:44.68	4 R	6:03.56	2 SA/B	6:04.99	6 FB	5:52.66	12

Women

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Mayra González	Single sculls	8:07.22	2 QF	7:45.75	4 SC/D	8:02.10	1 FC	7:42.68	15
Ismaray Marrero Yaima Velázquez	Lightweight double sculls	7:13.35	4 R	7:32.14	3 SA/B	7:30.15	6 FB	7:20.07	12

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Shooting

See main article: article and Shooting at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank
align=left rowspan=3	Eliécer Pérez	10 m air rifle	585	44	did not advance
50 m rifle prone	582	52	did not advance
50 m rifle 3 positions	1134	47	did not advance
Leuris Pupo	25 m rapid fire pistol	578	7	did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Eglis Yaima Cruz	10 m air rifle	396	11	did not advance
50 m rifle 3 positions	588	2	687.6

Swimming

See main article: article and Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Women

Taekwondo

See main article: article and Taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Bronze Medal	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Gessler Viera	Men's −68 kg	L 3–4	did not advance
Ángel Matos	Men's +80 kg	W 3–1	W 2–1	L 1–2		L ^1	did not advance
Daynellis Montejo	Women's −49 kg	L 1–0	did not advance		W 4–0	W 3–2	Did not advance

¹ Ángel Matos was leading 3–2 in the bronze medal bout against Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov, until he apparently suffered a broken toe, and was subsequently ruled to have retired after the allotted one minute of injury time expired. Matos kicked referee Chakir Chelbat in the face, pushed a judge and spat on the floor of the arena before he and his coach, Leudin González, who criticized the referee's ruling as too strict and accused Kazakhstan of bribing officials, were escorted put by security. The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) banned Matos and González for life, and Matos' results at the Beijing Games were deleted from the records.

Volleyball

See main article: article and Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Beach

See main article: article and Beach volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Athlete	Event	Preliminary round	Standing	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final /
		Opposition Score		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Milagros Crespo Imara Esteves	align=left rowspan=2	Women's	Pool E L 0 – 2 (17–21, 19–21) W 2 – 0 (21–11, 21–15) L 1 – 2 (19–21, 21–13, 12–15)	3 Q	L 0 – 2 (19–21, 13–21)	did not advance
Dalixia Fernández Larrea Peraza	Pool B W 2 – 0 (22–20, 21–19) L 0 – 2 (15–21, 16–21) W 2 – 0 (21–18, 21–17)	2 Q	L 0 – 2 (15–21, 13–21)	did not advance

Indoor

Women's tournament

See main article: article and Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament.

Cuba qualified a team to the women's tournament. The team won all of its five group play games, finishing as group winners. They also won the quarterfinal, but lost both the semifinal and the bronze medal game, thus obtaining a final ranking of 4th for the tournament.

Roster

Group play

Quarterfinal

Semifinal

Bronze medal game

Weightlifting

See main article: article and Weightlifting at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Snatch		Clean & Jerk		Total	Rank
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Sergio Álvarez	−56 kg	120	8	152	7	272	6
Lázaro Maikel Ruiz	−62 kg	132	8	162	6	294	6
Yordanis Borrero	−69 kg	148	6	180	6	328
Iván Cambar	−77 kg	157	8	196	3	353	6
Jadier Valladares	−85 kg	169	7	203	5	372
Yoandry Hernández	−94 kg	178	6	215	5	393

Wrestling

See main article: article and Wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Men's freestyle

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final /
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Maikel Pérez	−55 kg	L 0–3	did not advance						19
Yandro Quintana	−60 kg	W 3–1	L 1–3	did not advance		L 1–3	did not advance		8
Geandry Garzón	−66 kg		L 1–3	did not advance			W 3–1	L 1–3	5
Iván Fundora	−74 kg	W 3–1	W 3–1	L 1–3	Did not advance		W 3–0	L 0–5	5
Reineris Salas	−84 kg		W 3–1	L 0–3	did not advance				10
Michel Batista	−96 kg		W 5–0	L 0–3	Did not advance		L 1–3	L 0–5
Disney Rodríguez	−120 kg		W 3–0	L 1–3	Did not advance		W 5–0	L 1–3

• Michel Batista originally finished fifth, but in November 2016, he was promoted to bronze due to disqualification of Taimuraz Tigiyev.

Men's Greco-Roman

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final /
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Yagnier Hernández	−55 kg		W 3–1	L 1–3	Did not advance		W 3–1	L 0–3	5
Roberto Monzón	−60 kg		W 3–1	L 0–3	Did not advance		W 3–1	L 0–3	5
Alain Milián	−66 kg	L 1–3	did not advance			W 3–1	L 1–3	Did not advance	8
Yunior Estrada	−84 kg	W 3–0	L 1–3	did not advance					10
Mijaín López	−120 kg		W 3–1	W 5–0	W 3–0	W 3–1

See also

• Cuba at the 2007 Pan American Games
• Cuba at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

Notes and References

1. Web site: Delegación cubana a los Juegos Olímpicos de Beijing 2008 . 2010-04-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090724093201/http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/eventos/beijing/r-cuba/atletas/index.html . 2009-07-24 . dead .
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20080807064858/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/05/content_8314147.htm "149 Cubans qualify for Olympics"
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20080807023342/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/30/content_8850934.htm "Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez: only gold is my goal"
4. Web site: FITA Olympic Qualification - Men . 2008-05-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120816045252/http://www.archery.org/UserFiles/Document/Olympic%20Games/2008_OG_Beijing/0713_OlympicQuota_Men.pdf . 2012-08-16 . dead .
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20121021060019/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/31/content_8868896.htm "Cuban runner Robles trains in Havana"
6. Web site: IOC sanctions two athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008 - Olympic News.
7. Web site: Blonska thrown out of long jump . 2008-08-21 . BBC Sport . 2008-08-21 .
8. Web site: Team - the official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games . results.beijing2008.cn . 11 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080810181901/http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/Team/9990598.shtml . 10 August 2008 . dead.
9. http://www.aiba.org/default.aspx?pId=976 1st AIBA American Olympic Boxing Qualifying Tournament
10. http://www.aiba.org/default.aspx?pId=1305 2nd AIBA American Olympic Boxing Qualifying Tournament
11. Web site: Athlete Quota Places Allocation - Final List 21 July 2008 . International Canoe Federation . 21 July 2008 . 2008-07-30 .