The achievement of any athlete is to touch Olympic glory, because it is on this ground that great dreams, aspirations and the culmination of a job –sometimes– of a lifetime are enshrined.
Obtaining a medal in the next games in Paris 2024, regardless of its color, is today the dream of the Cuban gymnastics team, and within this, that of Alejandro de la Cruz Gato, a young man from Consolaro who until now has known how to guide his steps along this difficult path.
Talk today about your goals, aspirations and other thoughts with Guerrilla.
The Central American and Caribbean Games have just finished in San Salvador. Are you satisfied with your results?
“I am happy with the results achieved in this event. However, I am not satisfied as I know that I could have gotten a better grade. But that’s over, now what remains is to push forward and train hard with discipline and with an eye on the next competitions.
“In these games I was not at one hundred percent of my abilities, and perhaps the pressure of some things caused the color of my medal to not be gold as I had foreseen and as my coaches were sure. They were our first Central Americans and several things happened within the competitions. However, it was a good competition and as such the team is very happy and that is what counts”.
Is there a medal in your medal table that is special to you?
“In the Pan American of Medellín in Colombia, last May, I obtained a bronze medal in the rings. It was a very tough competition, since the level was extremely high. There were athletes and teams from the United States and Canada with impressive preparation.
“This result was very important to me, because reaching that medal was quite a challenge and it was something I was looking forward to. Being on the podium with my best device gave me a lot of satisfaction.
“I am also very happy with the two silver medals – the personal one and the team one – now in San Salvador. Only that we had that little thorn of being able to return to the Homeland with the gold medal ”.
How do you see the health of the team for the next matches?
“I think the team is in very good health, and the path we are on is the right one. We are a humble and sacrificed team. We work little by little and take care of all the details, but always with a firm step and with our minds focused on future challenges.
“For the next Pan American in Santiago de Chile, I think we may be able to get the maximum number of medals, as long as there are no injuries. I think that as a team we can be in the top four. I know we can do it.
“This will be an event that will have greater rigor and a higher level, since we will have to face teams from Canada, the United States, Argentina, Brazil and other countries that also have specialists in specific devices, but ours is up to the challenge.”
17 years training hard since you were recruited to Eide Ormani Arenado… do you feel ready for the immediate future?
“Yeah. It could be said that I have spent most of my life dedicated to this sport. But I’m satisfied with what I’ve been able to achieve so far, and what I know life holds for me. I have been consistent with my goals, with my achievements, and I have always given my all, I have trained hard and I have not disappointed my people or my family, which is the most important thing for me.
“Right now the main thing is physical and psychological preparation and trying not to have any injuries. I want to focus on the issue of Olympic qualification. I am going to fight to obtain a good result now in October, which in itself is when the pass to the Olympic Games is obtained by maximum accumulation of points”.
Do you feel that Cuba, that Cuban athletes are treated differently in international competitions?
“To be honest, sometimes many countries don’t count on Cuba for competitions, even sometimes they don’t even see us as rivals. In the past Pan American Games it was thought that Cuba did not have a team and little by little we made ourselves known and our skills were recognized.
“Sometimes the Cuban athlete is belittled for different reasons, but at the end of the day we bring out the caste and everyone sees how we really are and the values we have as human beings, as athletes and as Cubans at last.”
If you achieve a good result now in the Pan American Games and the team’s dream of being in the Olympics comes true, would you see a different Alejandro?
“In this last competition I was quite reserved in what constitutes the routine itself, because I had a heel injury and I did not want to risk it getting worse.
“Gymnastics is a sport of appreciation, and it is precisely this matter that could help or harm you depending on the judges. I also gave the margin in these Central Americans for the judges to opt for the other competitor for the gold medal, because I had some technical imperfections and details that ruined me getting second place.
“I know that right now I have to work a lot to achieve that classification that I crave, mainly in the pommels and the bar, which are the devices in which I am the weakest. However, I feel strong on the rings, jumping, freestyle and running.
“I think so, that the Alejandro of the upcoming competitions will be different, more committed, more daring, more competitive and more dedicated. Always trying to do my best to please the Cuban people who love sports so much”.
