Alan Vera, Greco-Roman wrestler, dies in the United States

September 25, 2024

On July 31st, several media outlets and social media groups reported that Cuban greco-roman wrestler Alan Vera had suffered a heart attack in the United States, the country where he has been residing for years.

He was admitted to a hospital in New Jersey, and several of his friends started a fundraising campaign on the GoFundMe platform to ensure that during the time his medical care lasted, his infant daughter, who was five weeks old at that time, would receive the best care.

Last night, in those same social media spaces, several specialists in this sport announced the death of the athlete from Santiago. Roly Dámaso, one of the most active experts in this discipline on Facebook, posted on his page: "The family of Cuban and world wrestling is in mourning, Alan Vera left us too soon, an example of an athlete and a human being." In that same post, the source added that the Caribbean athlete had been the first naturalized American wrestler who became a national champion in that country.

He was unable to qualify for Paris 2024 as, as we reported in a previous article, he lost to Joe Rau in the Olympic trials held in State College, Penn., in April. Previously, he had also been unable to secure his spot for Tokyo 2020, but he had represented the country of stars and stripes in world competitions, a nation he has defended internationally since 2019.

Currently, the athlete born on October 26, 1990 was the second figure in the nation in the 97 kg category and had previously been a multi-medalist at the Pan American Games with the United States and also with Cuba. He left his native team at the Pre-Olympic Tournament in Frisco, Texas, United States, in March 2016.

He was a key figure in a historic moment in 2020, when he became the first Cuban to be crowned champion of greco-roman wrestling in the USA. That national competition, held in Coralville, Iowa, from October 9-11, began for him with a narrow victory (2-1) over Lelund Weatherspoon in the quarterfinals. Later, in the semifinals, he prevailed due to an injury to his opponent, Trent Muñoz, and in the gold medal match defeated Joe Rau 7-1, one of his fiercest opponents at the domestic level. In the 2023 edition he repeated the title.

At the time of his death he was married to Elena Pirozhkova, a wrestler born in Russia who grew up in the northern territory and represented that country at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and the Cuban wrestling family.