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Three Cuban judo medalists leave the national delegation after competing in Florida
Lianet Cardona, Dayanara Curbelo and Jonathan Charón left Cuba's national team in the United States after reaching the podium at the Pan American Open in Florida, according to 14ymedio and Infobae. All three were due to compete in Montreal this weekend.
The three judokas, aged 21 and 22, left the Cuban delegation after finishing their events at the Pan American Open in Florida, in the United States. Cardona and Curbelo left the team on Tuesday, according to Alain Fernández, a Cuban judo coach based in the United States, and on Wednesday the outlet Cubalite reported that Charón had also walked away from the squad.
Curbelo won silver in the over 78 kilograms division, Cardona another silver at 78 kilograms and Charón gold at 60 kilograms. Curbelo, from Artemisa, was Cuba's flag bearer at the Junior Pan American Games in Asunción 2025; Cardona, from Santiago de Cuba, finished third at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026, and Charón, from Guantánamo, won the Pan American Championship in Panama City 2026.
"How much longer will we keep losing athletes who cost us so much effort and sacrifice to train?" Fernández asked, attributing the departures to "Cuba's difficult economic, political and social situation, along with the lack of resources, limited international competition and limited professional opportunities."
The departures came a day after wrestler Yusneylis Guzmán López, Olympic silver medalist at 50 kilograms in Paris 2024 and the first Cuban woman to win an Olympic wrestling medal, left the national delegation during a stopover in Mexico on the way to Brazil.
Sources: 14ymedio · Infobae
Data updated: 2026-11-05T04:30:00.000Z