Lovers of sport and literature enjoyed this Sunday. The Nicolás Guillén Hall, in La Cabaña, opened its doors to the almost ungraspable attempt to put into words the lives of Cuba’s two greatest Olympic and Paralympic Games glories.

On the occasion, two volumes were published by the Casa Editora Abril publishing house. The compilers Norland Rosendo González and Bertha Mojena Milián presented Mijaín López: el gigante que estremeció el mundo, while Dailene Dovale de la Cruz revealed secrets of her work Omara Durand: un viaje extraordinario.

Similarly, there was a relaunch of Mijaín López Núñez: una leyenda entre olímpicos y mundiales, by author Joel Augusto León, published by Ediciones Loynaz.

Each text contains memories of the consecration and defence of the virtue exercised by the Greco-Roman wrestler and the runner, who retired a few months ago. Although they will never again steal sighs on the mats and tracks, they will serve as soldiers of a homeland that welcomes them among its noblest children, they emphasised in their welcome.

The most successful gladiator of the classic style underlined how the text reflects his simplicity and humility, the love and transparency of his sporting career, spread over more than three decades, among the fruits of the Revolution in high performance.

Rosendo González, director of the Cuban News Agency and special envoy to Paris-2024, recalled the profusion of publications on social networks referring to the fifth title, obtained in the City of Light, of the man born in the Pinar del Río town of Herradura. They created a hashtag to collect the expression of feelings towards the Hero of the Republic, and received chronicles, poems, photos and more.

For his part, Mojena warned that the pages of the giant who shook the world may lack the highest literary flight, but the emotion unleashed in those days last summer is more than enough.

Omara confessed that the work dedicated to her portrays her in the right measure, through a dramatic and intense, but very sincere narrative. For his part, Dovales emphasised the strength behind his interviewee’s calmness, and praised her quality of combining honesty with kindness.

The meeting was attended by the deputy heads of the Ideological and Social Sector Attention departments of the Party’s Central Committee, Marydé Fernández López and Yuneidys Imbert Chaple, in that order; the deputy prime minister, Inés María Chapman, and other political, sporting and literary promotion leaders in the country.