In the afternoon of Tuesday, March 14th, the Cuban sport delegation that will participate in the Special Olympics World Winter Games in the specialty of Floor Hockeyarrived at Vienna International Airport. Graz y Schladming in Styria region, Austria will be the host cities in these 2017 Games.
The delegation composed of 12 male athletes accompanied by the coaches and directors of the Ministry of Education (MINED, by its Spanish acronym) and the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER, by its Spanish initials) was received by the personnel of the Cuban diplomatic mission led by Ambassador Juan Antonio Fernández Palacios.
The Special Olympics is an international program that provides people with intellectual disability some entertainment and athletic competition. Thus, they have the opportunity to develop in a better way their independence and to strengthen their personality and their physical state. Cuba started to be part of these competitions in 1986 under MINED and INDER´s coordination nationwide.
In 2005, during the games held in Nagano, Japan, the delegation from the Largest of the Antilles attained the first level of skill facing Russian and Canadian teams, both countries have a great tradition in hockey in the two modalities. Since then, Cuba began to be the first country of the region that entirely won in this highest level.
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(Embacuba Austria / Cubaminrex)