| MONOMAD | Silent witness

The Cuban athletes who will participate in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games had their flagging ceremony yesterday in front of the José Martí Monument in the Havana Revolution Square.

I participated in this ceremony as a photojournalist and of course, this news has already been published.

However, a lot of photographs always remain in my archive, and I am encouraged to share them here by the fact that perhaps they say more than the classic moments that are requested to graph the press release.

There I become a kind of silent witness as soon as I arrive on site to do my work. And sometimes I also chat a bit with some colleagues and we catch up on our lives. Some have more good news to give than others. Well... some of the accredited journalists there will have the opportunity to go to France to cover the games. This is more than great news, it's a luxury.

...

Ok, I will show a coherence and progress of the activity, through photos from now on.
;)

We arrived early in the morning and I took the opportunity to get some general views. I saw that there was a group of members of the military there in the square but I had no idea of the reason for this mobilisation.

It was 7:14 in the morning when I took this photo to show the view to my left, from the monument's base.

Here I was chatting with a friend and it caught my attention when the musicians for the cultural part of the event arrived. They were Christopher Simpson & Elevation, in charge of creating the musical theme that will accompany the athletes in their Olympic adventures.

This is the official video in case anyone wants to watch it.

And this is the lyrics of the song that I have translated for you.

Time to win

With sweat and sweat I climbed

with each step a giant dream.

The rain brings wet earth

but soon it will dry

Today the sky gave its colours

To those who light it with fire.

With challenges always come fears

but they will pass.

It's the day to move forward,

to the top I must reach.

The whole world at my feet

Announcing the time to win.

The time will come

And history will grow.

A light can be seen

announcing the time to win.

A shipwreck can happen to you,

which is a word not allowed.

It is a lesson of life, it is not an omen,

to learn to take up again.

In the midst of the cyclone I climbed

and in each step the giant dream.

The rain brings wet earth

but it goes on to the end.

It's the day to move forward,

to the top I must reach.

The whole world at my feet

Announcing the time to conquer.

The time will come

And history will grow.

A light can be seen

announcing the time to win.

The ceremonial guard awaits the start of the athletes' flag activity, which will be broadcast live. Of course, we were told where we could move so as not to hinder the work of the cameramen.

Another detail to be considered was the participation of the President of the Republic, which entails more limitation of movement for us, as his guard is in charge of his security.

From here on we have to be attentive because we have to capture the crucial moments.

Moments before receiving the flag, our distinguished athlete Mijaín López, four-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, will receive a medal.

The leader of the Paralympic delegation is Omara Durand, a multi-champion in athletics, with a good medal haul at these games since Beijing 2008. She recently announced that after her performance in France, she has decided to retire from her sporting career.

After the main words of the ceremony, the swearing-in of the athletes and the performance of the band Elevation, the authorities go to greet the athletes, one by one.

This was the note published in the magazine in case you want to see other colour photos.

8:08 am.

A photographer colleague and I were saying goodbye and I saw the military standing at the base of the monument, I thought maybe it was a graduation.

And this is my entry for the Monomad Challenge.

Camera	Panasonic Lumix G10
Location	Havana, Cuba
Category	Events
Editing	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic

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_{Original content by @nanixxx. All rights reserved ©, 2024.}