Manrique Larduet begins new stage as a gymnast in Italy

July 8, 2022

Manrique Larduet, one of the best Cuban gymnasts, decided to take his life in a new direction and now begins a new stage in Italy, after several disagreements with sports authorities that hindered his Olympic dream and led to a bitter farewell.

The island athlete received a welcome from As Gin Civitavecchia on their social networks, "one of the most important gymnasiums in Italy in the Artistic Gymnastics sector, with two Serie A1 teams and a staff of coaches and athletes from Team Italy".

"The Palestra As Gin – Ssd Ginnastica Civitavecchia, increasingly international. Welcome Cuban champion Larduet Manrique. He will train at the Federal Academy of Civitavecchia. We are ready for this new challenge", they wrote.

The Caribbean athlete himself wrote on his Instagram and Facebook account, words alongside the photos he shares: "New beginning, new family. Thank you @asgincivitavecchiaofficial @accademiagam for the opportunity ❤️ #7/10/2022 #happyblackman #italy".

Manrique Larduet's troubles with the island's sports authorities date back to 2020, when he made public his frustrations because the decision makers would not allow his coach, Carlos Gil, to return to tutor him in his effort to achieve a good result for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

After several social media posts from his coach about INDER's decision to prohibit him from preparing his student again, the island announced its delegation to Tokyo with Manrique's absence, of whom they claimed he was "lacking the physical and technical form necessary for an event of that level".

Faced with these statements, the athlete himself decided to turn to social media to speak about it and defend his image against the words of the executives: "I resigned since February and to date they have not asked me how I have felt. I assume responsibility for my resignation, but I do not assume the lack of respect. If I remained silent it is because I did not want to continue hurting myself emotionally, I felt very bad. I know that social networks don't always help, but there is also a need to clarify what is not being said. If they are going to take care of their image, they should also take care of those who have sacrificed".

In this way, the total break between the outstanding athlete and Inder was confirmed. Now, months after those sad events, Manrique begins another stage in his career.