Cuban Taekwondo Athlete Anaisel León Wins Gold at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games

July 29, 2026

Cuban taekwondo athlete Anaisel León Pintado, 22, from Pinar del Río, won the gold medal in the women's 67-kilogram division at the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Monday, July 27, 2026. In the final, León defeated Mexico's Leslie Soltero, the reigning world champion and one of the tournament's favorites.

The bout unfolded dramatically: Soltero took the first round 4-2 and held the advantage heading into the closing moments, but León turned the match around with a 6-0 second round and, with just two seconds left on the clock, landed a decisive scoring move to close out the fight 10-7 in her favor.

León's win was the first gold of the day for Cuban taekwondo at Santo Domingo 2026, a squad that also added a silver medal that day through Tamara Robles in the 57-kilogram division, plus two bronze medals. The result added the Pinar del Río native to Cuba's list of gold medalists at the regional Games, where the delegation had reached ten titles overall by that point in the competition.