Via the BBC: Cuban athletes leave games early

Cuban athletes have made a hurried departure from the Pan-American games in Brazil, apparently amid fears of possible mass defections.

The delegation was rushed at short notice to Rio de Janeiro’s airport, leaving the men’s volleyball team no time to collect their bronze medals.

The athletes were said to have been ordered to leave the games before the finishing ceremony on Sunday.

It follows the defection of four Cuban athletes earlier in the tournament.

It’s quite the Cold War era flashback.

When one has to go through these types of measures to make sure that one’s athletes won’t bolt from your control when given the chance, there just might be something wrong with your system. Of course, the willingness of people to put pontoons on old Ford pickup trucks and try and cross the ocean were something of an indication of that as well…