It was a very distinct athletic school, and very successful. It was vital to our formation. Today, that help is gone. Cuba's athletes no longer benefit from visiting Soviet and East German trainers. Yet while other sectors of Cuba's economy suffer, Cuba's Olympic program remains largely intact.
Sport is pure, and noble.
Associating it with politics makes it base and mediocre. When the Soviet Union beat the United States in basketball, or the United States beat the Soviets in hockey, it didn't mean that one country or one system was better than another. It meant that one team played better than another team on a particular day. Here in Cuba, we are quite accomplished at sports. And because of this, we end up sending a lot of trainers and coaches to other countries, most of whom have different political systems than ours.