My Memories of the Dominican Republic 2006

The beautiful sister nation of the Dominican Republic is hosting until August 8 the 25th edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games.

In 2006, this country was a sub-host for the Cartagena de Indias Games in five sports, which I had the pleasure of broadcasting for our country on Radio Rebelde’s airwaves. By a twist of fate, 20 years after that unforgettable professional experience, I recently returned to that beautiful country, not to report on the sporting event, but to attend a wonderful family gathering.

If back then I found the nation very welcoming, and especially the friendliness of the Dominicans — very similar to Cubans in their way of expressing themselves — I now saw nothing different in their treatment; there was, however, greater economic and social development due to the rapid boom in tourism, and I felt once again as if I were at home.

Although I could not enjoy the sporting events scheduled this time, as I returned to Cuba before the Games began, I did appreciate the great work carried out by the Organizing Committee, the dissemination through the media of the competition facilities, the comfortable Central American Village, and the competitive programs of each sport. I left the Dominican Republic convinced that the sporting event would be a success.

Allow me to go back to that year 2006, when, along with Roberto Méndez, a journalist from INDER, and a photographer from the same organization, we went to cover the activities of handball, field hockey, badminton, racquetball, and modern pentathlon, in one of the sub-venues of the Games corresponding to Cartagena de Indias, Colombia; the other was Mexico, host of the rowing events.

History records that in the editions organized prior to 2026, with the Dominican Republic as host, Cuba had led the overall medal table in 1974 and 1986, respectively, and the 2006 attendance could not have been better in the five sports held.

Hockey, in both sexes, produced historic performances for Cuba, winning decisively. The men imposed their quality in penalty shootouts, after ending regulation time tied at two goals against Trinidad, which required two extra periods in which defense shone for both teams and the tie was not broken.

In the penalty shootout, Cuban goalkeeper Joel Gómez gave a superb performance, saving two of the Trinidadian shots, while for Cuba, Yoanis Blanco — the tournament’s leading scorer — Roberto Lemus, Joel Veitía, and Yuni Pérez did not miss. The victory was 6 goals to 5.

In the same sport, but for women, the Cuban girls beat the Netherlands Antilles 3-2 for the gold and delivered the great surprise of the event, against the big pre-competition favorite.

Badminton was also won, in both sexes, by Cuba with a total of 3 gold medals, 5 silver, and 2 bronze, followed by Guatemala and Mexico.

In summary, the small Cuban delegation to this Santo Domingo sub-venue obtained 5 first places (one in women’s handball, 3 in badminton, and the two in field hockey).

The breakdown of silver medals was 5 in badminton, 1 in men’s handball, 2 in racquetball, and 4 in modern pentathlon, for a total of 12; while the bronze medals were three: 1 in racquetball and 2 in badminton.

Cuba’s performance in Santo Domingo, above all forecasts, although it could not help Cuba displace Mexico from first place in the Games — where Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, was a worthy host — demonstrated the rising quality of young talented athletes for the start of the 2008 Olympic cycle, which would have Beijing, capital of China, as host, and for me it meant a gratifying professional experience to be able to broadcast sports not widely publicized in the country.