“It hasn’t been a positive cycle,” López said. “We could (only) manage two months of preparation outside of Cuba, but that’s how these events work. We always want to be that beacon that shines on those behind us, but that’s sports. You win some, you lose some.”

Cuba’s team in Paris is small because the Olympics have changed since Tokyo.

The IOC, which is running the Olympic tournament through a task force, dramatically altered the sport by adding dozens of women and subtracting even more men to reach gender parity. Overall, the 248 boxers in Paris comprise the smallest field at a Games since 1956.

That was a problem for Cuba, which lagged behind the rest of the world in embracing the growth of women’s boxing. Cuba lifted its internal ban on women’s competition in the sport only in late 2022, and none of its women qualified for the Olympics.

Cuba has failed to win a gold medal in boxing only once since 1968, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Cubans still topped the overall table in Beijing with eight total medals, but several countries will match or exceed Cuba’s total in Paris — even the Dominican Republic, which had only two boxing medals in its entire Olympic history before winning two more in Paris.

Cuba won two golds in London, three in Rio de Janeiro and four in Tokyo. The progress has been interrupted in Paris.

“We still have a strong team,” Álvarez said after stopping his opponent on the opening day of the tournament last month. “(Cuba is) always a top team at the Olympics and every competition, and that will stay the same. This is a different year because we have only five boxers, but we continue to do our best to win gold medals.”

The Paris tournament started to go south for Cuba on the second day when La Cruz was stunned 3:2 in his opening bout by Loren Alfonso, a confidence-shaking result.

“We are sorry about the defeat of our team captain, but we are still four boxers left,” flyweight Alejandro Claro said. “We have to assume the responsibility. We have another two-time Olympic champion going for a third, and we have three young boxers in their first Olympics. We have got to put the team’s weight on our shoulders. We are going for results and to keep Cuba on top.”