Fernando Lecuona

Fernando Lecuona came from a family that was well-known as musicians, but Fernando’s interests lay in a much different realm: gymnastics. His first major international competition was the 1946 Central American and Caribbean Games, where he won six medals: gold in the all-around, parallel bars, and team all-around, silver in the floor exercise and the pommeled horse, and bronze in the rings. He then represented Cuba at the 1948 London Olympics, where he was 14th in the team event alongside his brother Rafael, Ángel Aguiar, Raimundo Rey, Baldomero Rubiera, Roberto Villacián, and Alejandro Díaz. Individually, his best finish was joint-63rd in the rings. The same team, with non-Olympian José A. Vázquez replacing Díaz, was much more successful at the 1951 Pan American Games, where they took gold in the parallel bars, rings, and horse vault team events, silver in the all-around, floor, and pommeled horse team events, and bronze in the horizontal bar team.

Even with all of these victories, Fernando was actually the less successful of the two brothers, as Rafael appeared in three editions of the Olympics and won 12 medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games and 19 at the Pan American Games. Both continued competing at Florida State University, where Fernando eventually became coach of the girls’ gymnastics team. His later career saw him become a golfer, composer, and student recruiter as well.