HAVANA, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Cuban leader Fidel Castro gave laurels to Cuba's medal harvest in Rio de Janeiro's Pan American Games and compared the medal haul with that of the United States.

Castro said the U.S. surpassed Cuba but Cuba won in proportional figures in terms of the population.

"The U.S. has 26 times more inhabitants than Cuba. According to conservative estimates they won one gold medal for each 3.09 million inhabitants; we won one gold medal for each 195,000 inhabitants," Castro said.

The U.S. won first place with 97 gold medals, Cuba was second with 59 gold medals in the 2007 Pan American Games.

Castro added Cuba is "almost a unique" country since it has free education, health and sports services.