In 2004, the Cuban Olympic boxing team won gold medals in six of 11 weight classes. That's nothing new. Cuba has produced almost as many great fighters as great cigars, including two of the three three-time gold medalists in the history of the boxing competition.
The Cubans also have a list of defectors just as long. Three of those 2004 gold medalists have defected since Athens and it appeared as if Guillermo Rigondeaux joined them during the Pan American Games this summer in Brazil. Rigondeaux has won just about every amateur competition in the world since the late 90's, including the last two Olympic golds. He was a favorite to become the fourth triple winner.
He didn't show for a quarterfinal bout and appeared to be headed to Europe when he was caught and arrested by Brazilian authorities, at the request of his home island. Rigondeaux asked to return to Cuba but was met by a letter from Fidel Castro saying he'd passed the "point of no return" and would not be allowed to fight for the national team.
The VP of the Cuban Boxing Federation Teofilo Stevenson, three-time gold winner and a Cuban hero, wants him reinstated, however.
There's little that chafes Castro, who tried his hand at pitching before moving on to revolution, more than athlete defections. After what happened this summer, he didn't allow Cuban boxers to travel to Chicago this fall for the World Championships and he is known to punish the families athletes leave behind.
I wonder if the location of this year's Olympics will make Castro more likely to change his mind. China ain't Chicago, after all, and Rigondeaux probably isn't going to elude his watchers grasp a second time. El Jefe loves to crow about his country's athletic successes and Rigondeaux is as good as they get at the amateur level. If he does get a chance to go to Beijing, his quest for a third gold and the geopolitical maze he took to get there should make him a popular story.
The Cubans also have a list of defectors just as long. Three of those 2004 gold medalists have defected since Athens and it appeared as if Guillermo Rigondeaux joined them during the Pan American Games this summer in Brazil. Rigondeaux has won just about every amateur competition in the world since the late 90's, including the last two Olympic golds. He was a favorite to become the fourth triple winner.
He didn't show for a quarterfinal bout and appeared to be headed to Europe when he was caught and arrested by Brazilian authorities, at the request of his home island. Rigondeaux asked to return to Cuba but was met by a letter from Fidel Castro saying he'd passed the "point of no return" and would not be allowed to fight for the national team.
The VP of the Cuban Boxing Federation Teofilo Stevenson, three-time gold winner and a Cuban hero, wants him reinstated, however.
"In our country there is a system of re-education that can be applied to those who commit an error or have flaws. The only ones you can't pardon are traitors."I'm not too familiar with the Cuban "re-education" process but I'm fairly certain that's a euphemism.
There's little that chafes Castro, who tried his hand at pitching before moving on to revolution, more than athlete defections. After what happened this summer, he didn't allow Cuban boxers to travel to Chicago this fall for the World Championships and he is known to punish the families athletes leave behind.
I wonder if the location of this year's Olympics will make Castro more likely to change his mind. China ain't Chicago, after all, and Rigondeaux probably isn't going to elude his watchers grasp a second time. El Jefe loves to crow about his country's athletic successes and Rigondeaux is as good as they get at the amateur level. If he does get a chance to go to Beijing, his quest for a third gold and the geopolitical maze he took to get there should make him a popular story.