An Olympic Games full of innovations, progress and changes, reflecting what Paris has represented and represents for the culture of the Western world, which has kept the population of the five continents pending the results, performances of athletes who have left heart and soul in search of Olympic glory for their efforts to bring joy to each of their regions touching the fiber of the people.

For the first time in the history of the games, gender equality is manifested with an equal number of male and female athletes, reaffirming the commitment of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to inclusion and equity, without discrimination or minimizing the sporting representation of a country, no matter how small it may be.

In the sum of these efforts, Centro Caribe Sports, the governing organization of Central America and the Caribbean, reinforced its efforts so that, through a journalistic coverage dedicated to the athletes of the region, they are highlighted during a long process with the HUELLAS A PARIS project, which also has profiles, interviews, among other products of visibility.

DELEGATIONS THAT ADDED

With the achievement of two medals, gold in 100 meters and silver in women’s 200 meters, sprinter Julien Alfred, inscribes Saint Lucia, a Caribbean island with barely seventy-six thousand inhabitants, in Olympic history, standing out with her triumphs to place her country in a continental vanguard position, being the first time in its history with such achievements.

The Saint Lucia Olympic Committee was created in 1987, recognized by the IOC in 1993 and has participated in the Games since 1996 in Atlanta.

With these gold and silver medals, St. Lucia is in third place in the region, escorting Cuba and Jamaica and surpassing area references such as Mexico and Colombia, the latter with a downturn that, after such important progress in the last two Olympic cycles, invites reflection.

The Dominican Republic covered itself with Olympic record gold with the marvelous performance of 27-year-old Marileidy Paulino, who showed that her favoritism after the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile last year was more than solid, real and not an illusion. An Olympic record of 48.17 seconds in the women’s 400 meters flat, with a Caribbean flavor, gave Quisqueya la bella her fourth Olympic gold and the first Dominican woman to win that color of medal.

Guatemala twice stands on the podium in Sport Shooting, a discipline where the smallest detail is the difference between glory and regret.

Adriana Ruano gets the first Olympic gold medal for her country, this time in the women’s Olympic trench, while in the men’s Olympic trench, Jean Pierre Brol, of great renown in the specialty, using his competitive spirit, managed to place himself among the best in the world and thus secure bronze as a precursor to what the day before would be the golden glory for Guatemala.

As significant and noteworthy, the outstanding performances in the female gender not only enhance the athletic condition, but also improve the overall position of the countries of the area in the medal table, which proved to be a region in vigorous growth in the high world competition.

Dominica and Grenada are proud to be in the general medal table, with a gold medal for the former obtained by Thea Lafond in Triple Jump with 15.02 meters on August 3.

In the absence of Yulimar Rojas due to injury, the name of Thea came out to take the baton as the great favorite, especially with all the results in her career in the world athletics championships and give the first Olympic medal to her country. Second place and silver medal went to Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica with 14.87 meters and third place and bronze for the United States, Jasmine Moore with 14.67 meters.

On the other hand, Grenada made its contributions to the region with two bronze medals. In the decathlon, Lindon Victor after two days of competition, obtained the third position and with it the bronze medal in the Decathlon with a total of 8711 points, entering Victor to the sports history of Grenada for this Olympic medal, following in the footsteps of the great Kirani James double Olympic medalist of that country. Victor, was surpassed by Markus Rooth of Norway who won the event with 8796 points and by the German, Lee Neugebauer, with 8748 units, silver medalist of the Olympic Decathlon.

It is important to highlight in a significant way the individual achievements of small countries with little representation and their impressive results in these Games.

Panama and Puerto Rico, with National Olympic Committees (NOCs) led by women, Damaris Young and Sara Rosario, respectively, added valuable medals to their national records.

The silver medal won by Panamanian boxer Atheyna Bylon, makes her the first Panamanian woman to win an Olympic medal, while Puerto Rico’s medals came from the efforts of Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who won the bronze medal in the 100-meter hurdles, and Sebastián Rivera, with another bronze in the 65-kilogram freestyle wrestling.

Camacho-Quinn made history by becoming the first athlete from her country to win two Olympic medals.

The regional and world sports power, Cuba, despite having its most discreet performance since Munich 1972, maintained its place as regional leader, with a Jamaica that with an Olympic record climbed to the top of the podium in the discus throw, and with a silver medal in a heart-stopping photo finish in the men’s 100 meter dash, with all 8 competitors for the first time in history clocking less than 10 seconds each, closing with a total of 6 medals.

HIGHLIGHTS OF PARIS 2024

Of the 85 countries that won medals, 18 are from the Continent, but 11 of them belong to the Central American and Caribbean region, highlighting that several new medals in the history of the Games medal tally came from female athletes.

Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, Thea LaFond of Dominica, Adriana Ruano of Guatemala, Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, Yarisleidis Cirilo of Cuba, Prisca Awiti of Mexico, and Atheyna Bylon of Panama, these names were part of the front pages and important news in their countries and in the region, for what they achieved in this multisport competition.

In addition, 42 records were broken, including 10 world records and 32 Olympic records, according to data provided by the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee.

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