Holguín announces its best athletes 2024
- Written by Calixto González Betancourt
- Published in Sports
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Cuban shooting star Leuris Pupo Requejo and cyclist Daimelyn Pérez Quesada were selected as athletes of the year in individual disciplines in the province of Holguín in the selection of the best of 2024, held last Tuesday in the meeting room of the Calixto García stadium.
With the votes of sports institutions and the specialized press, Leuris was selected for the tenth time and ranks among the best for the twenty-fifth time, since he has also been in the group of the ten most outstanding on fifteen occasions.
The sport shooter, the only one in Cuba in his discipline with Olympic gold and silver, starred in the event of the year in this region by attending his seventh Olympic games in Paris-2024, where this time his performance was modest, but meritorious performances in other events, such as fourth place in a world cup and gold in the Pan American Tournament, in his specialty of rapid-fire pistol at 50 meters.
Cyclist Daimelyn Pérez achieved gold in the individual time trial and silver in the road race at the Caribbean Road Championship held in Guyana; she qualified for the 2025 Yunior Pan American Games and has a positive performance in national competitions.
In team sports, the most outstanding athletes are volleyball player Yamilena Ruiz Pis and soccer player Cristian Carlos Valiente Osorio.
Baseball player Juan Cristian Onofre Sanz was selected rookie of the year; while in the contracted athlete category, soccer player Yasnier Matos Rodríguez was chosen as the most outstanding athlete, hired by a professional team (Deportivo Marquense) from Guatemala where he has had good performances.
More outstanding athletes are the boxing squad (team), ranked among the top six in the country and cycling as a discipline, which exhibits first place in the National School Games and third in the first category; in this section, mention is made for motorcycling, for its high and stable results.
Due to their distinguished performances in international and national events, the list of the ten outstanding athletes of the year includes Andy Hechavarría (triple jump), Jorge Soto (boxing), Yordan Manduley (baseball), Ángel Noris (handball), Nelson Miguel Batista (baseball catcher), Elianet Maria Crespo (taekwondo), Rafael Guerra (pitcher, softball), Jesús Enrique Pérez (pitcher, baseball), Dennier Infante (sailing) and Marlyn Pérez (taekwondo).
In sports for athletes with disabilities, the most distinguished is the parajudoka Sheila Samarian Hernández Estupiñán, Paralympic runner-up in Paris-2024. 
In this classification, the most outstanding in the province are Niurka Montero (table tennis) and the Paralympic bronze in Paris, Ulicer Aguilera (javelin thrower), who also occupied a place in the list of the best in the country.
Also among the disabled competitors are veteran Yanelis Silva and Alexander Lovaina, both with outstanding performances in table tennis.
