Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzmán left her country’s delegation during a stop in Mexico, a source close to the local wrestling federation told AFP on Monday. The delegation was traveling to Brazil for a training period, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Guzmán, 30, won silver in the women’s 50kg freestyle event at Paris 2024, becoming the first Cuban woman to earn an Olympic medal in freestyle wrestling. Neither Cuba’s National Institute of Sports nor the Cuban Wrestling Federation had issued an official statement.
Her other results include gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago and silver at the 2019 edition in Lima. She also won gold at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, silver in Veracruz in 2014 and bronze in Barranquilla in 2018. Guzmán was named Cuba’s best female athlete of 2024.
Athletes leaving Cuban delegations during international events has been a recurring issue. In July, nine of the 12 members of a Cuban canoeing delegation reportedly left during a trip to Canada, according to an AFP source. The athletes were taking part in a World Cup stage and the Pan American Sprint Canoe Championships in Montreal.
Cuban high-performance sport also saw numerous athletes leave between 2021 and 2023, during a period of unprecedented migration from the island. In October 2021, Cuba’s under-23 baseball team returned home with only half its roster.
Sources: Folha Esporte.