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

**Date:** 07/29/2026

Cuban taekwondo athlete Anaisel Le&oacute;n Pintado, 22, from Pinar del R&iacute;o, 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, Le&oacute;n 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 Le&oacute;n 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.


Le&oacute;n'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 R&iacute;o 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.

