Por Carlos Manuel Bernal López 
A couple of athletes from Matanzas make up the list of 21 Cuban representatives to the V Youth Parapan American Games in Bogotá 2023.
Pedro J. Urgellés Rután, from athletics in the T12 category, and Mario A. González Medina, from table tennis in the TT8 modality, will be present in the fight from Yumurinos. For both, it will be their first international competition, and the demands will mean an even greater challenge for Mario, the youngest member of the Antillean delegation.
Class 8, which the novice tennis player will compete in, is for players who compete on their feet with slightly limited movement of both arms or legs, moderately limited movement of one leg, or no limbs.
These players tend to have good power and range of shots. However, they have problems with balance and speed when faced with varied gameplay.
The T12 category, where Pedro will see activity, is for runners with visual disabilities. Their field of vision is restricted to a radius of less than five degrees and/or they have the ability to recognize a moving object at a distance of one meter.
Bogotá in the sights of Cuban sports
For Cuba, the main attraction of the event will be the presence of the Paralympic champion and world record holder in the long jump, Robiel Yankiel Sol. opening ceremony. Our team will compete in para-athletics (6), para-swimming (5), para-weights (3), para-judo (1), goalball (4) and para-table tennis (2).
The V Youth Parapan American Games will take place from June 2 to 12, 2023, in Bogotá, Colombia, with competitions in 12 disciplines and the objective of strengthening the development of youth Paralympic sport in the Americas. The coffee city will bring together more than a thousand youth para-athletes, from 26 countries, in 11 days of competitions.
The youth event will thus fulfill its fifth edition, after its debut in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in 2005. The following editions were: Bogotá 2009, Buenos Aires 2013 and Sao Paulo 2017. The fifth broadcast, originally scheduled for 2021, was delayed, first for 2022 and then for 2023, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Translated by Casterman Medina de Leon