Results of the vote organised by Inder and the Upec Sports Journalists Circle.
Wrestlers Mijaín López and Yusneylis Guzmán, beach volleyball player Jorge Luis Alayo and baseball player Haila González won the main individual distinctions among the best Cuban conventional athletes of the year 2024, announced on Monday.
Mijaín achieved an unprecedented feat by winning his fifth Olympic gold medal in Paris, while Guzmán won an unprecedented silver medal for the island and Alayo had an outstanding performance alongside Noslen Díaz.
The vote organised by Inder and the Upec Sports Journalists’ Circle endorsed Mijaín’s coronation as the event of the season and placed the world champion baseball team at the top5.
Wrestling and volleyball led as individual and collective disciplines, respectively, canoeists Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboy and Yisnoly Franchesca López did so in the non-individual event, pitcher Liván Moinelo among contract athletes and ball dominator Erick Hernández in special sports.
The awards gala will take place on 13 December at the Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum, where the champion team of the II World Cup of Baseball for the Blind will also receive special recognition.
The following are the recognised players among the conventional players:
. Best athlete in individual sport (F)
Yusneylis Guzmán López (Wrestling, 50 kg/HAB)
Silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Coach: Iván Fundora Zaldívar.
. Best athlete in individual sport (M)
Mijaín López Núñez (Greco-Roman wrestling, 130 kg/PRI)
Gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the fifth of his life at that level.
. Event of the year:
Greco-Roman wrestler Mijaín López (130 kg) winning his fifth Olympic gold medal, a feat that will be one of the highlights of the Paris 2024 Games.
Coach: Raúl Trujillo Díaz.
. Top individual sport
Wrestling
Discipline that brought the most medals (5) to the Cuban delegation at the Paris Olympic Games: 1-1-3. Fifth place by country in that event.
. Best athlete in team sport (F)
Haila Gonzalez Collazo (Baseball5/ART)
Member of the World and Pan American champion team. Awarded as MVP of the universal competition.
Coach: Sadián Fernández Álvarez.
. Best athlete in team sport (M).
Jorge Luis Alayo Moliner (beach volleyball/VCL)
Ninth place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, winner in two phases of the Norceca Tour, several times on the podium at World Tour stops and first and third places at the Russian National Championships, always together with Noslen Díaz Amaro.
Coach: Francisco Álvarez Cutiño.
. Most outstanding team sport
Volleyball
Winner of the Final Four, the Final Six, the Pan American Cup and the FIVB Challenger Cup, and 14th place in the Indoor World Championship.
Ninth place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Places one, two and three in Norceca stops and 17th in the world championship, in the beach modality.
. Top team
Baseball team5
World Cup II champion, WBSC ranking leader and Pan American champion.
. Non-individual event
Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboy (GTM) and Yisnoly Franchesca Lopez Lamadrid (VCL) (Canoeing)
Eighth place in the C2 500m at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and seventh place in the C2 500m at the Szeged 2024 World Cup.
Coach: Nelson Perales García.
MOST OUTSTANDING ATHLETES
. Erislandy Álvarez Borges (Boxing, 63.5 kg/CFG)
Gold at the Paris Olympic Games. Winner of two professional bouts in the season.
Trainer: Rolando Acebal Montes.
. Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboy (Canoeing/GTM)
Bronze medal in the 200m C1 at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Third place in the 200m C1 and seventh in the 500m C2 at the Szeged 2024 World Cup.
Coach: Nelson Perales García
. Luis Alberto Orta Sánchez (Greco-Roman Wrestling, 67 kg/HAB)
Bronze medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Coach: Luis Ulacia González.
. Arlen López Cardona (Boxing, 80 kg/GTM)
Bronze medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Winner of the IBA professional world title in one of two such bouts this season.
Trainer: Victor Sanchez Matos.
. Milaymis Marín Potrillé (Wrestling, 76 kg/HAB)
Bronze medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Coach: Filiberto Delgado Santiago.
. Gabriel Rosillo Kindelán (Greco-Roman wrestling, 97 kg/SCU).
Bronze medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Coach: Raúl Trujillo Díaz.
. Rafael Yunier Alba Castillo (Taekwondo, +80 kg/SCU).
Bronze medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. World and Olympic ranking leader, Pan American and Olympic qualifier champion.
Coach: René Garcia Coffigny
. Briandy Molina Elías (Baseball5/HAB)
Member of the World and Pan American champion team. Selected MVP in both events.
. Noslen Diaz Amaro (Beach Volleyball/ART).
Ninth place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, winner in two phases of the Norceca Tour, several times on the podium at World Tour stops and first and third places at the Russian National Championship, always together with Jorge Luis Alayo Moliner.
Coach: Francisco Álvarez Cutiño.
. Leyanis Pérez Hernández (Athletics, triple jump/PRI)
Fifth place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Silver medallist at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow 2024, winner of the Diamond League and owner of the second best mark of the year (14.96m).
Coach: Ricardo Moisés Ponce Paret.
Highlights in other categories:
Athlete on contract:
Liván Moinelo Pita (Baseball, pitcher/PRI).
Star pitcher for SoftBank Falcons, reached the final of the Japan Professional Baseball League. Leading hitter in the Pacific League.
Special sports:
Erick Hernandez Sanchez (Ball dominance/HAB).
He set five Guinness World Records in the season.
Recognition in special sports:
Yaroyg Oños Gálvez (Underwater photography/HAB).
Gold Medal in the Macro Category and Silver in Wide Angle at the World Championship in Albania.
Special recognition:
Blind Baseball Team, champion of the II World Cup.
