Thomas Bach presented the President of Cuba with the IOC Gold Medal

The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bachwhich was delivered this Friday to the Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel the IOC Gold Medalin recognition of “his support for the global Olympic movement,” the island’s state media reported.

Díaz-Canel met with Bach on the second and last day of the visit to Cuba made by the head of the Olympics, accompanied by senior managers of international sports.

During the meeting, Bach described his visit to the island as “intense, but perfect”, as reported by the Cuban Presidency on its Twitter account.

The Cuban president considered it “an honor” to receive the IOC president, reiterated Cuba’s commitment to the global Olympic movement and told him that “sport can build many bridges.”

Bach told international media on Friday that his visit to Cuba helped him “learn about his preparations for the Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games” and meet with representatives of the island’s government.

Cuba, he said, is an “important country” for sports because of the Olympic medals it has won. “Cubans can be proud of their great success,” he added.

The top manager of world sports also said it was “too early” to discuss Russia’s participation or not in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In this sense, he explained that consultations are being conducted with the Olympic committees of all countries and with the various sports federations to “consider everything” in the situation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions in the coming months.

After his arrival in the Cuban capital this Thursday, Bach participated in a meeting of the executive committee of the Cuban Olympic Committee (COC) and attended the inauguration of a multipurpose court at the Sports City Coliseum and a synthetic court installed at the Stadium Panamericano de La Habana , among other activities.