Volleyball personalities decorated in Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, August 22, 2006.- Outstanding personalities from several generations received the Cuban Centennial Volleyball Medal during a ceremony celebrated at the Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum in Havana.

Players, technicians, medical doctors, journalists and coaches were decorated during the ceremony presided over by Christian Jimenez, president of the National Sports, Physical Education and Recreation Institute, Roberto Leon Richard, vice president of the organism and Raul Diago, president of the Cuban Volleyball Federation.

Among the personalities decorated was Dr. Ruben Acosta, president of the Federation Internazionale de Volleyball (FIVB), represented by Mr. Claude Evrad, supervisor in Havana for the Cuba-Korea World League Round.

Also were decorated Jacinto Cueto, 94, a pioneer of volleyball in Cuba, Regla Torres, the best women player in the past century, Gilberto Herrera and Antonio Perdomo, coaches with Olympic and World medals, and Angel Iglesias, currently vice president of INDER.

During 2005, a series of events were staged around the island commemorating the one hundred years of the volleyball arrival to Cuba, a discipline that experienced a vertiginous development following the triumph of Cuban Revolution in 1959, with teams from the country winning medals in Olympic Games, World Grand Prix, World Championships, World League, Pan American Games, Central American Games, World Cups, NORCECA Tournaments and other relevant competitions.

Pedro Rey, a former player and historian, spoke on behalf of the medal recipients, among which were representatives of the team that won the first medal ever obtained by Cuba at an international event during Central and Caribbean Games of 1946 in Barranquilla, Colombia.