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 (1984 and 1988), 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.
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 (led by Yumilka Ruíz), 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.[1] Among the champions, Kindelan and Rigondeaux managed to defend Olympic titles in their respective weight categories.[2] 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 (9 gold, 7 silver, and 11 bronze), 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.[3] 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.[4]
Cuban athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard).[5][6]
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.[4][7]
Key
Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Q = Qualified for the next round
q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
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 (also the only boxer not to win a match), 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.
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; R=Repechage
Cuban swimmers earned qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the A-standard time, and 1 at the B-standard
time):
