CubaPLUS Magazine

The discus thrower Yaimé Pérez Téllez and the Greco-Roman wrestler Ismael Borrero Molina were the best athletes of Cuba of 2019 in the individual category, while volleyball took the distinction of best Collective Sport; the male line-up of that discipline the Best Team, and the Wrestling, the most outstanding Individual Sport.

Pérez Téllez repeated the title won last year by this season’s win of the world title in Doha and the Pan American Games, in addition to retaining the title of the Diamond League. She triumphed in seven of the top 10 competitions she faced, with over a dozen throws among the top 25 of the competitive period.

Borrero Molina won the gold in the world championship, in the continental event based in Peru and was selected the best wrestler of his style in the season worldwide, with a record of 29 wins without defeats.

The volleyball players reached silver in the continental games of Lima, gold in Challenger Cup NORCECA, silver in Challenger World (Group), bronze in Tokyo 2020 qualifier (group), and gold in Super Cup and the NORCECA Championship. As a Collective Sport they collected prizes in the Beach Volleyball Circuit, especially in the womens sector.

The various categories of wrestling brought home gold and silver at the Nur Sultan World Cup; four golds, a silver and a bronze in world championships of other categories; five gold medals, two silver and nine bronze in the Pan American, and two gold in the Grand Prix of Iran. In disability sports Omara Durán Elías stood out in para-athletics, with three gold medals in Lima (two records), first place in the Caixa Lotteries World Cup, three titles in the Polish World Cup and three golds in the Dubai World Championship.

The Rookie of the Year was the classic style wrestler Gabriel Rosillo, gold medalist in Lima 2019, in the World Youth Championship, the Grand Prix of Iran and the Pan American tournaments of the discipline, both for adults and youth.

Among other acknowledgements of the Cuban sports institutions, were the Event of the Year, for the wrestler Mijaín López, with five uninterrupted Pan-American titles, and the Best Professional Athlete, for the cyclist Arlenis Sierra Cañadilla.

The most voted in Latin America Since 1964, the Latin American information agency Prensa Latina has conducted an annual survey to choose the most prominent athletes in Latin America and the Caribbean - 113 news media from 22 countries around the world participated in the 2019 edition.

Among the men, the Colombian Egan Bernal, brand new champion of the Tour de France, while the Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas, world champion in Doha and the Pan American Games in Lima, dominated the poll among the ladies. The Argentina basketball squad won in the team category, second place title-holders in the World Championship of China.

The Colombian cyclist rose in the Latin Press survey to the heights of stars such as Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi, Dominican baseball player Juan Soto and Cuban boxer Andy Cruz.

Yulimar Rojas, triple jump champion, had Cuban Yaimé Pérez, leader of her category in the competitions at Doha and Lima, as her closest rival.

Important press, such as the Spanish agency EFE, the Russian Sputnik, and the Italian Gazzetta dello Sport, among others, gave their vote to the Argentine basketball team, which beat the Brazilian soccer squad, reigning champions of the America Cup.

The biggest winners in the history of the Prensa Latina survey are the Jamaican Usain Bolt, with six (2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016), and the Colombian Caterine Ibargüen, with five (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 , 2018), in both sexes.