Mijaín López has been designated ambassador of the Lima Pan American Games

June 10, 2019

First it was in a personal conversation, then came the official letter from the president of Panan Sport, Chilean Neven Ilic, to confirm a new title for the three-time Olympic champion and five-time world gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, Mijaín López. "He has been appointed ambassador of the Lima Pan American Games on behalf of the continental sports organization".

The information was made official at the headquarters of the Cuban Olympic Committee (COC), where the first meeting of the COC Athletes Commission was held last weekend, which is presided over by the Pinar del Río gladiator himself, accompanied by shooter Leuris Pupo as secretary and judoka Yalennis Castillo as a member, following a vote held among about a thousand athletes from the two High-Performance Athlete Training Schools: Cerro Pelado and Giraldo Córdova Cardín.

"This appointment is a source of great pride and is recognition of the effort I have made throughout my long sports career. It will be another way to represent Cuba and therefore it represents an honor. Furthermore, it is satisfying that they take us into account in all these things, a sign that they recognize the Cuban sports movement," López commented exclusively.

This idea of Games Ambassadors was born from an initiative of the Organizing Committee of the XVIII edition in Lima 2019 (COPAL), which has been selecting, identifying and involving personalities from different professional and sports fields in their country so that they develop or promote sports and Olympic values directly and/or indirectly before and during the event.

Panan Sport, for its part, joined these principles with the selection of several illustrious figures from continental sports and according to our knowledge, in addition to Mijaín, Brazilian swimmer Thiago Pereira has also been chosen, the most prominent figure in his sport in the history of these multi-sport events with 23 medals, divided into 15 gold, four silver and four bronze.

Mijaín, amid the news, did not want to overlook his advance message for the entire delegation, of which he should again be its flag bearer, as has been happening consecutively since the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

"It is true that they will see cold temperatures at the Pan American Games and that conditions will be difficult due to the rivalry and quality of the opponents, but we have to be prepared so that none of that bothers us and causes us to lose concentration on sports results.

"We will be a young delegation to face a complicated games, but we will go with a positive and winning mentality. We should not only see the obstacles in the way, we must focus on our strengths and be effective. Furthermore, we cannot forget that Cuban athletes have the habit of rising to the occasion in tense and difficult moments," he assured.

The president of the COC, Roberto León Richard, valued that Mijaín's nomination is recognition, first of all, of his personal results, and secondly, of what Cuban sports has achieved, the prestige that it has been climbing in the Americas and the world for many years, even though the results of recent years have not been as flattering as we directors and people would have wished. Still, Cuban athletes continue to be recognized and admired by international institutions and by the world," he concluded.