The Cuban modern pentathlon athlete qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Marco Antonio Rojas thanked Bolivia for the welcome during his preparation at altitude with a view to strengthening his aerobic capacity.
“Bolivia’s solidarity has allowed us to improve aerobic capacity with a view to that competition, and we are achieving it, which will be seen when we are at sea level,” he said in an interview with Prensa Latina.
After a meeting at the Cuban diplomatic headquarters in La Paz with officials from that legation, the athlete born in the eastern province of Las Tunas 23 years ago, stressed the importance of that support.
“For example, of the five events – riding, running, shooting, fencing and swimming – my strongest is in the pool, and the training here has been very strong, it has forced me to redouble my efforts, and that will help me” The young man told this news agency.
He recalled his beginnings at the age of six in the sport as a gymnast, at seven he moved on to swimming, and from there at 14 to the modern pentathlon, a specialty in which after achieving classification in the Pan American Games in Chile 2023 he now faces the challenge of an improvement over what has been achieved historically.
“Until now, my goal was to reach an Olympics, and now the objective is to improve in Paris the 15th place achieved for our sport by Janet Velázquez in Beijing 2008, we aspire to break that barrier.
Rojas insisted on the purpose of fighting for classification among the top eight.
He added that he aspires to maintain physical condition, complete another Olympic cycle by 2028 and contribute to the men’s modern pentathlon climbing the international rankings.
In this sense, he thanked the welcome of Bolivia and in particular of the president of the Modern and Military Pentathlon Federation of the Andean-Amazonian country, Nimia Hurtado, to the team also made up of the coaches Rigoberto Morejón, Miguel Méndez and the doctor Víctor Hugo González .
“Likewise,” the athlete emphasized, “we thank all the people who have supported us in Bolivia, and those who, before qualifying for the Pan American Games in Chile 2023, contributed to our preparation in France.”
He specified that horse riding was perfected in the European country, one of the factors that allowed them to achieve fourth place in Chile, and thus achieve Olympic qualification.
“That is why we say that the result we achieve in Paris 2024 will also have the colors of the flags of Bolivia and France for their solidarity with Cuban sport,” concluded Rojas.
Hurtado, for his part, expressed that the presence of this Cuban team at the height constitutes a very great experience for the Bolivian Federation and for her in particular.
She commented that the high technical qualification of the visitors provides her with knowledge to enrich a book in which she argues that sport in his country requires a specialized ministry.
“The whole experience with this Olympic athlete and his team of trainers gives me a lot of useful experience for Bolivia, I greatly value the Cuban coaches and their sports science system, including sports doctors, with deep knowledge that they constantly apply in training” , concluded the federation.
