Date of birth:  May 14, 1968

Place of birth: Pinar del Río, Cuba

Nationality: Cuban

Residence: Cuban

Sport: Greco-Roman Wrestling

Héctor Milián Pérez.

Outstanding Cuban wrestler of the Greco-Roman style who gave the Cuban delegation the first of the 14 titles won at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, thus giving Cuba one of the most brilliant glorious pages in the history of the Olympics.

Biographical Synthesis

He was boTaco Taco town  (San Cristóbal), Pinar del Río on May 14, 1968. Héctor's attachment to the sport may have been indirectly influenced by his uncle Angel Milián, a former boxer of full weights, who in the 1970s became the fierce adversary of triple Olympic champion Teófilo Stevenson.

On his eighth birthday, his physical qualities stood out from his peers at the local primary school "Caridad Valverde" and the Physical Education teachers decided to try him at the pitches.

However, some time later the technician Fernando Aranda was able to convince him to make pininos in the fight and enrolled in the Escuela de Iniciación Deportiva Escolar EIDE Ormani Arenado Llonc in Pinar del Río province in the academic year 1980-1981.

Led by Lorenzo Echevarría, he competed in 1984 National School Games in Greek specialty and there he attracted the attention of coaches Silvio Mitchel and Alejo Morales, who promoted him to the School of Athletic Improvement (ESPA), a fact that gave him a great boost in his career.

Now converted into a strong young  man with 1.96 meters in height, he won the world youth title in 1986 and from there went directly to the national preselection under the tutelage of the experienced Pedro Vals, who said on one occasion: "Milián began with us at the beginning of 1987 and was a boy with great aptitudes, but needed an intense work of learning that polished him in the technical order. In this sport, strength must be combined with intelligence...".

Sports Trajectory

On Tuesday, July 22, 1992, was permanently engraved in the mind of the gladiator from Pinar del Río and was no exception. During the final fight in  Greco-Roman modality, Héctor defeated the American Dennos Marvin Koslowski in 100 kilogram division.

Until that historic moment, his trajectory in the world of mattresses and keys gathered a long list of international successes, among which was the pair of gold medals won in the Pan American Games corresponding to Indianapolis (1987) and Havana 1991. By the way, in the first of those commitments he also discussed the top position before Koslowski. From the debut in the Catalan event, the Caribbean exhibited remarkable technical quality and the way through the organization chart placed him in the opening in front of Serguei Demiachievitch, representative of the so-called Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), who a year ago won the world championship. Milián's victory took a coveted adversary out of the way.

In the second the lawsuit against the Senegalese Alioune Diouf presented greater setbacks and the advance to the semifinal was achieved with triumph over the tireless Bulgarian Atanas Komshev, a man who did not give him a single minute of truce.

The fourth fight was against the German Andreas Steinbach and there he had to appeal to all the technical - tactical resources with the intention of scoring points without exceeding physically.

When the occasion came, the dangerous Koslowski, a native of Minnesota, left willing to sell the defeat face, so that from the first tactical action, in addition to the usual aggressiveness, showed impeccable technique in the grabs.

As for Milián, all the time he took the initiative and based on intelligence and speed he was able to control the muscular human mass and emerge victorious in the difficult confrontation.

In a subsequent press conference, the Creole established a comparison of the two fights held with the American and recalled: "The fight on this occasion was much more closed than in Indianapolis due to the interest of both to reach the Olympic gold. He is a great opponent and I will always remember this fight as one of the best of my life.

During the 1993-1996 Olympic cycle, things didn't go well due to serious injuries and difficulties in keeping within 100 kilogram limit.

So much so that participation in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta was pending a decision by the International Federation, because a sprain in his right knee did not allow him to participate in the continental Olympic qualifying round held in Cali, Colombia. In reality, Héctor Milián was not the same as Barcelona and the results are obvious.

Results in Olympic Games

Barcelona (1992)

• Won 1-0 against Serguei Demiachkevitch (EUN)
• Won by disqualification to Alioune Diouf (SEN)
• Won 8-2 against Aranas Komshev (BUL)
• Won 10-4 against Andreas Steinbach (ALE)
• Won 2-1 against Dennis Koslowski (USA)

Atlanta (1996)

• Won 12-0 against Colbie Bell (CAN)
• Won 3-0 against Guiseppe Giunta (ITA)
• Lost 2-0 to Andrezj Wronski (POL)
• Lost 1-0 to Teymuraz Edisherashvili (RUS)

Sidney (2000)

• Won 6-0 against Hallik Helger (EST)
• Won 4-0 against Zhao Haillin (CHN)
• Lost 4-0 to Dimitri Debelka (BLR)
• Won 5-3 against Georgi Solddze (UCR)

Awards

Other acknowledgments

• He became the First Greco-Roman Olympic Wrestling Champion of a Third World country.
• He was awarded as a fighter of the Year in the World, in 1992, by the International Federation
• Most prominent athlete of Cuba in the years 1991 and 1992.
• Selected by the people among the 100 best Cuban athletes of the 20th century.