Cuban fighter Erislandy Álvarez will seek the Olympic crown today in the 63.5 kilogram (kg) division, in his first Olympic Games under the five rings.

In a final that is a rematch of the last World Championships, held in Tashkent, he will clash fists against Frenchman Sofiane Oumiha, three-time world champion and who defeated the Cienfuegos native 3-2 in the 2023 title bout.

Erislandy has «strolled» in the ring of the Parisian city, but he needs to convince and show what he is made of to prevail against the local, also silver medallist in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

So far, the West Indian has given lessons in technique and agility, and although he has already secured the silver medal, he expressed his eagerness to win.

If he wins it, El Vikingo, as he is known, would bring the second gold medal to Cuba, since the star Mijaín López won the first one on Tuesday.

For the largest of the Antilles, the 67kg grequista Luis Alberto Orta, a Tokyo 2020 champion and world champion, begins his fight today.

The Havana native’s goal is to climb the podium once again, having won the 60kg category at the event three years ago.

In his debut in Paris, in the round of 16, he will face Japan’s Kyotaro Sogabe.

Also in the classic style of wrestling, Gabriel Rosillo will be competing today for the bronze medal in the 97 kilograms, while Yusneilys Guzmán will be competing in the women’s freestyle in the 50 kg.

Roxana Gómez will try to reach the 400m final at the Stade de France, and Luis Enrique Zayas will try to qualify in the men’s high jump.

Triple jumpers Lázaro Martínez and Cristian Nápoles, silver and bronze medallists in that order at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year, and Andy Hechevarría will fight for a place in the final of their discipline.

At the Vaires-Sud-Marne nautical stadium, canoeist José Ramón Pelier will compete in the men’s 1,000m C1 for a place in the semi-finals; and at the Saint-Denis Aquatic Centre, divers Anisley García and Priscis Leydis Ruiz will jump on the diving board from three metres in the qualifying event.