European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday August 1, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 21 pan american . Cagers regime nearing tests by John Nelson Havana Cuba a the . Olympic committee expects 700 american athletes to show up at the pan american games. America expects 12 of them to win a at last. The . Menus basketball team Hasni to won a major International championship since 1986, but . Basketball coach Gene Keady says a each Day we get a Little bit a and each Day the pan am games draw closer As Crews of volunteers work 20-hour Days to put the finishing touches on the biggest sports extravaganza Ever in the worlds last bastion of old time soviet style communism. In track and Field and swimming . Teams also were expected to do Well although neither was sending its a team. . Boxers meanwhile had reason for Hope until each of the olympic festival winners decided to pass up the pan am games for the world championships in Australia in games run tomorrow through aug. 18 in Havana and Santiago cities rarely seen by americans since Castro took Over in 1959 but now badly in need of outside Cash. Five years ago when he bid for the games Castro was squarely in the bosom of marxist communism and he wanted to show off its Caribbean Branch with a pan am games that would celebrate his communist Island state. Now with communism on the decline worldwide and soviet Aid to Cuba dwindling fast the world wondered can the cubans pull it off cuban officials get the question All the time. A you just finished building your olympic stadium in Montreal and that was started in 1976,�?� cuban sports official Manuel Zayas recently Tola a Canadian journalist. A i done to think it will take us that Long to finish our after All this is cubans Debutante Ball and one thing the cubans have in abundance is cheap manual labor. With but a few complaints such As no air conditioning in the athletes Village it appears the venues will be ready on time. The . Menus basketball team also will try to be ready on time. The team Hasni to won a major International Gold medal since the 1986 world championships with a team led by David Robinson and coached by Lute Olson. In the five years since the team has been beaten in the 1987 pan am games 1988 Seoul olympics and 1990 Goodwill a Carpenter moves to the next task at Havana a stadium where workers labor around the clock against Friday s deadline. Games and world championships. This year Keady of Purdue will take a team led by Jimmy Johnson of Ohio state and Christian laettner of Duke into Havana As a co favorite along with puerto Rico. The americans Start the tournament on saturday against Host Cuba. A by our standards anything less than the Gold is a losing situation a Keady coached the . Team to a Gold medal in the 1989 world University games but that is not considered a major International tournament since it does not involve the . National team. The . Women steam meanwhile has won 41 consecutive games in major International Competition and is heavily favored to win the Gold medal in Havana. At the last pan am games in Indianapolis in 1987, the United states won a record 369 medals including 168 Gold 118 Silver and 83 Bronze. That total May be less this time because of the track and Field team being sent to Cuba. Big Money tournaments in Europe and next months world championships in Tokyo have kept Many big names away. The top american men include sprinter Andre Cason hurdler Tony Dees High jumper Hollis Conway and. 35-year-old pole vaulter Earl Bell 1975 pan am Winner. The top women competitors include hurdles Dawn Bowles and Schwonda Williams High jumper Tanya Hughes and Middle distance runner Maicel Malone. Despite its mediocrity the team probably again will win most of the medals. In 1987, a powerful . Team which included Carl Lewis and Jackie Joyner Kersee won 56 medals including 26 Gold. Only five other countries won Gold medals led by Cuba with six. The top foreigners to watch include Javier Sotomayor of Cuba world record Holder in the High jump with the worlds Only 8-foot, jump and Marlene Ottey of Jamaica the worlds top female sprinter. International boxing has been dominated for a generation by the cubans and that a Why the . Team was optimistic. On May 25 in fort Bragg n.c., the . Team tied Cuba 6-6 in a dual boxing match for the first time Ever. A we Are proud a . Coach Lucky Vascocu said. A we had lost 15 in a Row to them. At least we tied this but All six of the winners at that meet including world Champion Eric Griffin of Houston considered by Many the Best Pound for Pound Amateur Boxer in the world won at the olympic festival this month in los Angeles aria will skip Havana for the world championships. Medals will be awarded in 28 sports. In a the previous 10 pan am games the United states has won 1,127 medals including 745, Gold to 328 medals and 287 Gold for americans in Havana arrive quietly by Barry Wilner Havana a the Yan quis Are Here practically unnoticed and definitely unchallenged. Nearly 200 american athletes not quite knowing what to expect or not expecting anything at All arrived at Jose Marti Airport on tuesday. The bulk of 1 the estimated 700 . Competitors for the pan american games were to get in during the next two Days. A this Competition happens at the right time for us and we re ready a said diver Mark Bradshaw. A a we re not Here to find out the economic differences what we have and what they done to added Field hockey player Kristy Gleason. A a we re Here to play Well and at any time in the last three decades such a wave of americans rolling onto cuban land would have been greeted with derisive chants banners proclaiming a Yanqui go Home or worse. In the 1990s, with Cuba More isolated than Ever by its communist doctrine there was no such politicizing. Actually there Wastion reaction at All. A i expect there will be a lot of cubans at our events. I hear they Are knowledgeable and sports oriented a Bradshaw said. Did he expect to hear Boos and whistles from the fans a i think they will appreciate a Good show a he said. Workers at the athletes Village a 55-building Complex near the seashore in East Havana were anxious for the arrival of the american delegation. Even though 1,000 athletes already were registered at the Village when the americans arrived cuban officials seemed to regard the opinion of . Representatives As a stamp of approval. Or disapproval. A How does this Village compare to others you have seen a asked Sergio Cabrera a press representative conducting a tour of the apartments tuesday. A is this what your american athletes will like a we have tried to give the athletes everything they will a a generally the cubans have done Well in that department a with one glaring exception. Due to a an ordering problem a each apartment which can Best be described As comfortably functional has no toilet seats. The Canadian delegation previously alerted to the a ordering prob Lem a took care of that by bringing 125 of their own. There is no air conditioning and the availability of hot water was in question As fridays opening ceremonies approached. But the bedrooms Are big enough even to House a pair of Bulky weightlifters and the Complex offers a cultural Center recreation Center movie theater video machines nightly entertainment and a Beach just outside the Village. Cuba certainly has sunk enough Money into putting on a Good show. The Price tag is difficult to assess because there is no official Exchange rate for the cuban peso against the Dollar. President Fidel Castro and other cuban government and ministry of sports officials have admitted the Cost is Well in excess of $100 million. E those expenditures were made in the face of a failing Economy shortages in All areas Oor housing and the apparent ack of a recovery plan. A your Economy is planned a said Mario l. Garrido press Liaison for the cuban organizers. A this was air built according to plan. The first priority is social needs. Sport is the right of the people that is one of our Basic Jie eds. A your people also have the right to celebrate these games. All the sports Are free for everyone. There Are no no tickets at least not for the locals a fact that made Bradshaw smile. S c a we might have some big crowds then a Bradshaw said. A i Hope they like what they regardless of the Cost. _
