Competing at the Olympic Games requires an absolute sacrifice.
For women, that sacrifice is even bigger.
I sacrificed everything for 12 straight years.
(ARRIBA CUBA: LAS MORENAS DEL CARIBE)
The story of "The Caribbean Girls" is, without a doubt,
one of the most compelling in Cuban Olympic history.
In 1978, at the World Championship,
playing against Japan,
the so-called "Oriental Witches"
were defeated by the Cuban team
which became known as "The Caribbean Girls".
That victory became such a sensation that Cuba's
revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro,
gave the team full governmental support.
Thanks to our political system, which is our main sponsor,
allowed us to focus on achieving our goal.
"The Caribbean Girls" became more than a team -
a legend was being forged,
a symbol that went beyond volleyball.
We won our first Games in Barcelona '92.
Cuba hadn't participated in Los Angeles '84 and Seoul '88,
so our generation was really eager to win medals
and we did everything we could to win.
Our motivation for winning was our country.
Cubans love sports,
and our victories brought joy to our people.
Our commitment, other than to our families and our country,
was to the leader of the Revolution.
He always fought for us, to make us better.
He would ask what our goal was and we would reply "winning",
because we represent the Cuban people.
Some people might not understand it,
but those living in Cuba in those difficult years
can understand it very well.
The people needed some sort of joy -
that was our motivation at that time.
They needed it.
In Atlanta, the team was more mature -
there were some changes but we had a strong foundation.
There was a hair salon inside the Olympic village.
We all wanted to look good for the cameras
because the Games were televised.
We wanted to have good hair.
We became distracted,
and we lost our focus.
Our coach got really angry.
He said that wasn't normal
and that he'd lost hope that we'd win gold.
That made us worry.
The Brazilians had prepared very well.
They knew our weaknesses,
and were there to win the gold medal.
It is well known what went down.
That match became more important than the final.
20 years later, people still talk about it.
It was a very tough match because they were so close.
In the end we won
and went on to play the final against China.
Imagine, both teams wanted the medal,
the Brazilians weren't happy, a fight broke out.
But in the end, we won a spectacular match,
a beautiful and tightly contested match.
After the game against Brazil, we were very excited.
Our coach became worried.
The Olympic Games were not over yet,
we still have to play against China
which is as good as Brazil and could beat us.
When you sacrifice so much
and achieve as much as we did,
it tastes like glory.
It's worth all the sacrifices as a teenager and as a woman.
I'd do it again.
Some people think that athletes' lives are easy,
but they aren't.
I didn't have the chance to become a mother,
but I've achieved other things,
which would've been difficult to accomplish if I had chosen
to become a mother, because I would've lost valuable time.
You owe yourself to the team.
Getting pregnant was a big responsibility.
You can't damage the team. All of that must be sacrificed.
The sport goes first.
"The Caribbean Girls" represented
women of the third world in developing countries
as well as Cuban women.
Simple women, of very humble origins, almost all were black.
We represent the strength of Cuban women.
We were the face of Cuba abroad.
We were the ambassadors of Cuba.
They are a symbol for Cuba.
They brought international prestige to Cuban sports
and to Cuban women.
We became role models as women and as a team.
My team was known to have strong women.
We played aggressively.
We were very temperamental, moody, nobody liked to lose.
Those two things combined were explosive.
Cuban women have always been aggressive and feisty.
That aggressiveness was necessary because there were
great teams that pushed us to the limit on every game,
so we had to be aggressive.
When they looked at my face, without me saying a word,
they'd realise they couldn't beat me.
I try to teach my athletes that same aggressiveness,
the perseverance and fighting spirit
that we had on the court.
The aggressiveness in the jump, the power of the attack...
Those were concepts shared by all of us
and we try to pass that on to the new generations.
Eugenio George, our coach, was like a father to us.
He trained us to play hard
but also taught us to be feminine.
We played like men, but after the game we were ourselves.
Feminine, modest, fragile, delicate, with many virtues.
Despite the toughness of training,
you have to preserve your essence as a woman.
He taught us how to project our femininity,
how to wear make-up, how to dress, even how to walk.
He made us read so we could express ourselves better.
He wanted us to dress up and be elegant,
so we'd go around turning heads.
He wanted people to notice the Cuban team.
We owe so much to that great man, because he made us
what we are, what we were.
Our coach used to say
that we defended our country in the trenches of sport.
By defending our colours,
respecting each other,
looking after yourself, as a human being, as a woman.
We are like family -
that's what Eugenio taught us.
Every now and then we all get together,
we are always connected.
We always find a way to gather "The Caribbean Girls"
from the first to the last.
- Victory! - Cuba!
(RUSSIAN FEDERATION, SET POINT)
From Sydney 2000,
many people remember the match against Russia
because we were down after two sets.
The first two sets were intense for both teams,
but we got back in the game,
due to our superior athletic conditioning.
By the fifth set, the Russians were tired.
It was my turn to serve.
The ball bounced back.
I passed it to Taymaris Agüero.
She passed it to Regla.
I can't even explain the rest.
I get very emotional talking about it.
I came to know each one of them so deeply.
I dreamt of them.
I cried and laughed with them.
There are no words to describe
everything I felt as captain of that team.
That team, "The Caribbean Girls",
should live in the hearts
of all those who love volleyball.
We just want to be remembered as "The Caribbean Girls" -
as the great champions we became.
(CUBA, GOLD - VOLLEYBALL WOMEN)