Asley González, Olympic judo runner-up, surprises by changing nationality

September 27, 2021

Asley is the first case of a Cuban Olympic medalist who, without having to defect, renounces representing Cuba to do so for another nation's team.

It is not just any judoka that Rumania has just acquired. It is the Cuban Asley González, 32 years old, Olympic silver medalist from London 2012 and world champion in Rio de Janeiro 2013.

González, also an Olympian in Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016, also has a bronze world medal in 2011 in the 90 kg category. He is considered the best judoka on the Caribbean island in the last decade.

After obtaining his new citizenship in early August, the Cuban star will make his debut with Rumania's national team on September 24 at the Grand Prix in Zagreb, Croatia. González returns to this European city three years after winning the silver medal with the Cuban team in July 2018.

In November of that year he was a special guest at Rumania's Judo Festival, and in April 2019 he was absent from Cuba's National Championship without the reason being publicly reported three months before the Lima Pan American Games, which he also did not attend.

González moved up in weight and will compete for Rumania in the 100 kg category. He was several times number one in the ranking of the International Judo Federation in the 90 kg category.

The Cuban Judo Federation has not issued any statement about the change in sports nationality of its emblematic figure in the men's sector.

Apparently, González maintains his residence in Cuba and left the country without any difficulty after completing his discharge procedures with the state Sports Institute (INDER).

This is the first case of a Cuban Olympic medalist who, without having to defect, renounces representing Cuba to do so for another nation's team.

In 2008, volleyball player Taimaris Agüero, Olympic champion with Cuba in 1996 and 2000, was part of Italy's roster at the Beijing Olympic Games. In 2001 she had abandoned the Cuban delegation in Switzerland, before taking refuge in Italy.

The announcement of González's debut was made by the Judo Inside website.

"There will be a spectacular entrance at the Zagreb Grand Prix. A World Champion that wasn't expected. At least not for Rumania, which has never celebrated a World Champion, but now it has one," the publication quoted.

Zagreb will be the first event of the IJF World Circuit after the Tokyo Olympic Games. In the Japanese capital, none of Rumania's three representatives reached the podium.

Judo Inside reports that the "spectacular" country change was made possible by the management of the Rumanian Judo Federation through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, which was resolved by a Government decision. On August 9, the Caribbean judoka took an oath of loyalty. The friendship with Rumanian champion Vlad Visan influenced this naturalization request decision. González is married and expects to bring his family to Bucharest soon.

The last time Asley González competed at the international level was at the World Championship in Baku in 2018, where he placed seventh.

In total he competed six times at World Championships and in various World Cup circuits. He was a medalist at Pan American Games. His last major victory came at the 2016 Havana Grand Prix, where he defeated Krisztian Toth in the final, current Olympic bronze medalist from Tokyo.

That match was witnessed by the IJF president, Marius Vizer along with great figures of Rumanian sports as special guests, former gymnast Nadia Comaneci and former tennis player and businessman Ilie Nastase and the president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, José Ramón Fernández, who died in 2019.

"González is ready for the start of his last adventure, perhaps in Paris in 2024 and a European life in Rumania," Judo Inside stated.

"Asley wanted to become Rumanian (…). He made friends here, he likes our country, he will compete starting today for Rumania with the ultimate goal of obtaining an Olympic medal in Paris 2024 (…). His gesture of leaving his country, which he represented with honor and success, for an increasingly better life in Rumania, recommends him to earn the respect of those who understand the value of performance," said the president of the Rumanian Judo Federation, Cozmin Gușă.

This year González had already competed in Bucharest with the CSM Oradea club in the Rumania Cup, where he won the gold medal and in the National Championship of the "Ne Waza" (ground fighting) modality.

The Cuban thus joins other foreign athletes who have recently acquired Rumanian citizenship, such as American basketball players Kris Richard (CSM Oradea), Giordan Watson and Patrick Richard (U BT Cluj-Napoca), Portuguese footballer Mario Camora (CFR Cluj) and Kenyan athletes Joan Chelimo, Stella Ruto and Delvine Meringor.