Cuba at the 2004 Summer Olympics


Cuba competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's seventeenth appearance in the Olympics, except for some editions. Cuban athletes did not attend in two Olympic Games, where they joined the Soviet and North Korean boycott. Cuban Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since 1972. A total of 151 athletes, 97 men and 54 women, competed in 18 sports. Men's baseball and women's volleyball were the only team-based sports in which Cuba had its representation at these Olympic Games. There was only a single competitor in archery.
The Cuban team featured seven defending Olympic champions from Sydney: taekwondo jin Ángel Matos in the men's welterweight division, the women's volleyball team, boxers Mario Kindelán and Guillermo Rigondeaux, Greco-Roman wrestler Filiberto Azcuy, sprint hurdler Anier García, and long jumper Iván Pedroso, who later became the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Among the champions, Kindelan and Rigondeaux only managed to defend Olympic titles in their respective weight categories. Skeet shooter Guillermo Alfredo Torres, the oldest athlete of the team at age 45, became the first Cuban athlete to compete in five Olympic Games since 1980; meanwhile, judoka Yamila Zambrano was the youngest of the team at age 18.
Cuba left Athens with a total of 27 Olympic medals, failing only two golds short of the total record achieved from Sydney. Eight of these medals were awarded to the athletes in boxing, six in judo, and five in athletics. Cuba's team-based athletes proved successful in Athens, as men's baseball and women's volleyball teams won gold and bronze medals, respectively. Among the nation's gold medalists were Osleidys Menéndez, who previously won the bronze in Sydney and also, became the first non-European athlete to claim an Olympic title in women's javelin throw since María Caridad Colón did so in 1980. On August 23, 2004, the International Olympic Committee stripped off Russia's Irina Korzhanenko shot put title after failing the doping test for stanozolol, and the gold medal was subsequently awarded to Yumileidi Cumbá at the conclusion of the Games.

Medalists

MedalNameSportEventDate
AthleticsWomen's shot put

BaseballMen's tournament
AthleticsWomen's javelin throw
BoxingFlyweight
BoxingHeavyweight
BoxingLight flyweight
BoxingBantamweight
BoxingLightweight
WrestlingMen's freestyle 60 kg
JudoWomen's +78 kg
AthleticsWomen's hammer throw
TaekwondoWomen's 49 kg
WrestlingMen's Greco-Roman 60 kg
BoxingLight welterweight

CanoeingMen's C-2 500 m
BoxingWelterweight
JudoMen's 66 kg
JudoWomen's 52 kg
JudoWomen's 57 kg
JudoWomen's 63 kg
JudoWomen's 78 kg
ShootingMen's skeet
AthleticsWomen's hammer throw
AthleticsMen's 110 m hurdles
BoxingSuper heavyweight

VolleyballWomen's tournament
WrestlingMen's freestyle 74 kg

Archery

One Cuban archer qualified for the women's individual archery.

Athletics

Cuban athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events.
Yumileidi Cumbá originally claimed a silver medal in women's shot put. On August 23, 2004, the International Olympic Committee stripped off Russia's Irina Korzhanenko shot put title after failing the doping test for stanozolol. Following the announcement of Annus' disqualification, Cumba's medal was eventually upgraded to gold.
;Men
;Track & road events
;Field events
;Women
;Track & road events
;Field events

Baseball

;Roster
Manager: 39 – Higinio Vélez
Coach: 22 – Carlos Pérez Cepero, 30 – Pedro José Delgado Pérez, 34 – José Sánchez Elosegui, 41 – Francisco Laza Escaurrido Chapelle
;Round robin
TeamWLTiebreaker
611-0
610-1
52-
43-
34-
25-
161-0
160-1

;Semifinal
;Gold Medal Final
;Won Gold Medal

Boxing

Cuba, by far the most successful country at boxing in the 2004 Olympics, entered a boxer in each of the 11 weight classes in Athens. None of the seven boxers with a round of 32 match lost it. Only one of the boxers fell in the round of 16, with the other ten advancing to quarterfinals. Two lost there, while the remaining eight ensured medals for themselves by winning their quarterfinal matches. One lost in the semifinal, earning a bronze medal. Of the seven Cuban boxers that advanced to the final bout in their weight classes, five won the match to take gold and two lost to claim silver medals.

Canoeing

Sprint

Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify to final; q = Qualify to semifinal

Cycling

Track

;Sprint
;Time trial
AthleteEventTimeRank
Ahmed LópezMen's time trial1:02.7399

;Omnium
AthleteEventPointsLapsRank
Yoanka GonzálezWomen's points race5010

Diving

Cuban divers qualified for eight individual diving spots at the 2004 Olympic Games.
;Men
;Women

Fencing

Four Cuban fencers qualified for the following events:
;Men
;Women

Gymnastics

Artistic

;Men
;Women

Judo

Twelve Cuban judoka qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
;Men
;Women

Rowing

Cuban rowers qualified the following boats:
;Men
;Women
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A ; FB=Final B ; FC=Final C ; FD=Final D ; FE=Final E ; FF=Final F ; SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; R=Repechage

Shooting

Eight Cuban shooters qualified to compete in the following events:
;Men
;Women

Swimming

Cuban swimmers earned qualifying standards in the following events :
;Men
;Women

Taekwondo

Two Cuban taekwondo jin qualified for the following events.

Volleyball

Beach

Indoor

Women's tournament

;Roster
;Group play
;Quarterfinals
;Semifinals
;Bronze Medal Final
; Won Bronze Medal

Weightlifting

Two Cuban weightlifters qualified for the following events:

Wrestling

;Men's freestyle
;Men's Greco-Roman