Cuba’s Javelin Olympic Champion in Moscow 1980, Maria Caridad Colon confessed she was very happy to receive the Women and Sports Award given by the International Olympic Committee Wednesday.

“It is quite important for me, and especially for all Cuban women. It is at the same level of my 1980 Olympic title in Moscow. It’s the reward for all these hard years of work,” she commented to Prensa Latina Wednesday, after receiving the award.

Maria Caridad Colon was the first Cuban and Latin American to get a title at the Olympic Games.

The former female javelin thrower said it is wonderful to have won the award, which is a great compromise with all Cuban women, and the women in the rest of the world, a privilege that stimulates her and motivates her to promote sports.

Talking about the updating of sports in Cuba, Colon said the girls at the Cuban national pre-team have “talent and possibilities for being international stars, but we need to keep on looking for more talent in the base, looking everywhere we can find new talent.”

The delivery of the Award will be made because of the activities for the International Women´s Day, this time in the Swiss city of Lausanne, the IOC host, on March 5.

In the history of these awards, two other Cuban women were awarded: Cuban Fencing Federation president Rafaela Gonzalez and former female volleyball team star Mireya Luis. Gonzalez, now a member of the Cuban Olympic Committee, received the Award in 2002, while Mireya Luis did it in 2004.

Other Latin American women who received this award are Peruvian former volleyball star Cecilia Tait (2003), Argentinian tennis player Gabriela Sabatini (2006) and Jamaican prime minister Portia Simpson in 2007.