PARIS.— Mijaín López Núñez, the son of Leonor and Bartolo, went beyond all possible limits. If any human work comes close to perfection, it is the one he has just closed here, with his fifth consecutive gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling.
However, for him the most important thing "is to feel proud to be Cuban, to give Cuba everything it taught me. Every Olympic and world medal carries that feeling."
Mijaín is Cuba, because the child, the young man, the worker, the scientist, the doctor, the teacher, the intellectual, are reflected in his conviction of victory.
It is a country because it respects, loves and fights until victory; because for him, every time a Games volunteer, a colleague or a simple driver identifies us, they express: Long live Cuba, Long live Mijaín!
Until the night of August 6, in the Fields of Mars, navel of the culture of this city, and at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, other legends came to embrace him. He received a kiss from Ana Fidelia Quirot, who supported him so much in the stands that it seemed as if she had run one of her electrifying 800-meter races.
He also melted with Javier Sotomayor, in a day in which the gladiator made Cuba go over the 2.45 meters of the Prince of Heights.
Still with the pulsations rumbling in his vast muscular geography, the call came from the Homeland. "It is the most important sporting event of the Games. You are a Cuban and an exemplary revolutionary", said the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
He asked him about the beautiful message of leaving the slippers on the mattress, and the invincible champion commented that it was like a sowing for the young people who will continue the path.
It was then, when protocol required him to prepare for the award ceremony, that he was asked if he had a message for his village of Herradura. "A big kiss for my people of Herradura, and get ready, it is already formed."
Wrestling has remained, with Mijaín, in the golden paradise of the five rings since 1992, when Héctor Milián won the gold medal in Barcelona. Since then, he has never failed to reach the top of the podium in any edition.
He will also miss that place, he was the one who promoted him the most. He was born to live there, and he will always be there, because the invincible ones don't retire, they keep winning.
