Pablo San Roman (AFP)
20 September 2000 – Sydney - Cuba is now well established as one of the major powers of world athletics but the achievements of Alberto Juantorena in the Montreal Olympics in 1976 - where he won gold in the 400m and 800m - remain the benchmark for competitors from the island nation.
And a new generation of athletes has emerged to follow in the footsteps of the man dubbed the 'White Horse' to maintain the rich tradition in Cuban track and field.
Ana Fidelia Quirot, silver medallist in Atlanta and the 1995 and 1997 World Champion in the women's 800m, has retired but legendary high jumper Javier Sotomayor has assumed Juantorena's mantle as the face of the Caribbean island's track and field team.
Sotomayor, with a world record height of 2.45m, is still seen as the man to add a second Olympic title to the one he won in 1992 in Barcelona but admits that the long lay-off during his suspension has not helped him - 2.30m is his best mark this year.
"I am aiming for the medal and not the record - if I get that (the medal), that's good," Sotomayor told AFP on arrival in Sydney last week. "Any medal will do. I would not be disappointed with a bronze but I am aiming to win."
The ability on track and field has not changed - but the names have.
Gone are the traditional names like Alberto, Javier, Ana Fidelia or Maria Caridad (Maria Caridad Colon was the first Cuban woman to win Olympic gold on the track in the Moscow Olympiad of 1980).
Now the emerging stars are more likely to be called Yoelvis, Daimi, Anier, Yamile, Osleydis, Yumileidi, Yipsi - following the increasingly creative trend for naming a child in Cuba.
Yumileidi, for instance, is an adulteration of the phrase "you my lady" while Yipsi is a variation of gypsy. Yoelvis means "Yo Elvis."
World champion Daimi Pernia is a medal contender in the women's 400m hurdles while Anier Garcia is another likely podium finisher in the men's 110m hurdles.
Pernia was the surprise World Champion last year in Seville while Garcia took silver behind Allen Johnson of the United States.
Triple jumper Yoelvis Quesada, a bronze medallist four years ago in Atlanta and Yamile Aldama, silver medallist in Seville in the same discipline for women and second-ranked female javelin thrower Osleydis Menendez are other big medal contenders.
Female shot putter Yumileidi Cumba (sixth in the IAAF world rankings) and hammer thrower Yipsi Moreno (eighth) should also not be discounted.
Gold must be the main aim for Cuba after missing out on the top podium place in Atlanta, having to settle for Quirot's silver and Quesada's bronze.
Ivan Pedroso should be in the equation for the long jump, however, although he believes that the conditions could be against him in Sydney.
Quesada, the 1997 World Champion, may also do better than his Atlanta bronze.
The 1997 World Championships in Athens proved a highpoint for Cuba who finished third in the medal tables. They came sixth last year in Seville.
