Fidel Castro’s love for sports           

Fidel Castro was a pioneer in the field of sports in the modern world. As with the Greeks in ancient times, Castro was the first of the contemporary world political leaders who realized the value, the art, the appeal, the enthusiasm and the advantages of sports.

 Under his command, sports became a compulsory subject for every school-going child in a country of nearly 90% literacy. He encouraged the elderly to take part in chess. The modern-day popularity of walks can be traced to his influence.

The best example of his contribution to sports is exemplified by the thrice Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Felix Savon Favre.  Felix was born in Castro’s Cuba, never left the shores of his small island, trained under Cuban coaches and with local facilities. Yet was the undisputed Olympic champion for three consecutive times in 1992, 1996 and 2000. Opponents shuddered to square up to him in the heavy-weight ring. Once after the knock-out punch, he modestly claimed, “Cuba has won, not me.” Similar have been the legendary exploits of numerous Cuban sportsmen under the care of Castro’s regime.

Unfortunately Fidel Castro never received the acknowledgement due to him. The primary reason was that never compromised at the feet of the world powers. His courage and conviction made him an outcaste. The volatile, handsome personality was a singular person, as he had once said, “I prefer being in the majority of one.”

May 1977. London House, the residence of students of School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS). My friend Udayan Mukherji and I were in the company of a youth from Cuba. He had left his native land during the revolution and had gone to USA to seek a future for himself. Studied hard, did odd jobs and earned his degree in political science. Now he was well-settled and had come to UK for the first time.

While discussing the Cuban revolution, he kept harping on the influence of sports in his island nation. He kept saying that they were the best in the world at boxing, baseball and basketball. For a student of international relations to have such an exalted opinion of sports drew my attention. Here was someone speaking spontaneously without bothering to create any impression on his listeners.

Now after nearly 40 years, I can vaguely recollect our acquaintance’s name. But I distinctly remember that he mentioned that Teofilo Stevenson was a neighbour of his. That made me still more curious about the man.

 For those who are not into the world of boxing, Teofilo Stevenson was the undisputed Olympic champion in 1972 and 1976 in the heavy weight category. Later in 1980 yet again he had the gold medal around his neck. He happens to be one of the forgotten legends of the Olympic movement. His only fault being that he belonged to the ‘low-profile’ nation of Cuba.

While on Stevenson, it would be an injustice to the outstanding sportsman if his famous quote is not mentioned. Once when asked as to why he did not join the professional ring and make millions fighting Muhammed Ali and company, the man merely shook his head and uttered, “What is a million dollars’ worth compared to the love of eight million Cubans.” He never left his homeland. Shades of our own Dhyan Chand and Tensing Norgay, who refused to earn fame and fortune abroad.

We have digressed. Back to the company of our acquaintance at SOAS. Now qualified and settled, he longed to go back to his motherland. But was apprehensive of how he would be able to resettle in a communist country. Throughout the discussion he was thrilled to find that Udayan and I were quite aware of the overthrow of the dictator Batista, of the Cuban revolution, of Fidel Castro and, of course, our hero of those days, Che Guevara.

Fidel Castro was a statesman with a difference. He had a genuine love and regard for sports and sportspeople. Not the kind of annual cricket jamboree of our parliamentarians at New Delhi. Mao Tse Tung was known to have swam across broad rivers. Many British premiers have played cricket in their school and university days.  But Castro was probably the first to understand the mass appeal of sports. He once claimed that a healthy nation consists of healthy individuals.

 He did not use sports merely as a vehicle of propaganda as East Germany, Soviet Russia and Communist China had done. No, there was a distinct difference. He did not concentrate on elite sports. On the contrary he made physical education compulsory for every primary school child along with academics. Even elderly people were encouraged to take part in indoor games, particularly chess. He believed in competition certainly, but more importantly he wanted his people to take active part in non-competitive contests for the sake of health. The lawyer turned revolutionary turned political leader was certainly way ahead of his times in this respect.

Fidel Castro infused a sense of pride in his countrymen about Cuba’s sports performance at the international level. On the international sports arena he took great delight in the achievements of his fellow men particularly at athletics, boxing, basketball and baseball. According to Robert Huish, professor of international development studies, the deep respect the Cubans have for their sportspersons is reflected in the story relating to Javier Sotomayor.

Javier Sotomayor is an unique sportsperson. He is the only human being to have soared eight feet in the high jump. It is believed that the Cubans marked the height of his jumps in their doorways as he toppled one world record after another. When Alberto Juantorena (400 m and 800 m gold in the 1976 Olympic) galloped around the track, other athletes merely gaped in awe and wonder. Castro’s Cubans had cast a spell on world sports.

No other political leader can match Fidel Castro love and respect for sports. Sports symbolized Cuba’s strength, self respect and pride. How good was he at sports himself? There have been apocryphal stories of Castro’s dexterity at sports. It is said that he was very adept at baseball for he was known to have been pictured with his bat raised. He was also supposed to be an excellent pitcher. But Castro himself revealed the truth, “Never became a champion. Never had the time to practise much.”

Our SOAS acquaintance told us that Fidel Castro’s prime interest as a broad-shouldered, 6-feet-3 was in basketball. The broad-shouldered, 6-feet-3 physique had immense strength, speed in his movements and ability to think fast. Till his last breath he spoke of his love for sports. The outstanding political personality really appreciated the power of sports, which happens to be war without weapons.

Fidel Castro belonging to the unfashionable nation of Cuba never really received the acclaim he deserved. He became a rogue to the world because certain section of the powerful media tarred his image. But his ever-lasting contribution to sports cannot be erased from the annals of sports history. The phenomenal performances of his countrymen have etched his contribution to sports in stone.