Diorges Escobar and Keyla Leyva Qualify for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam

September 17, 2026

Cuban gymnasts Diorges Escobar and Keyla Leyva have secured individual berths at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, set for October 17-25, 2026, in Rotterdam, Netherlands — the first qualifying event of the discipline on the road to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Escobar, a parallel bars specialist from Sancti Spíritus, placed third on that apparatus at the Pan American Championship in Rio de Janeiro this past June, scoring 13.700 in the final after qualifying with 13.533. Leyva, a 17-year-old from Camagüey, won bronze on the uneven bars in August at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, scoring 12.000 points while competing with a torn muscle in the outer tendon of her left ankle.

In Rotterdam, both athletes must finish among the top 24 in their category in the all-around to advance to the individual final, with a maximum of two gymnasts per country, while apparatus finals will include the top eight in each specialty. Escobar competes in the men's fourth subdivision on opening day, and Leyva in the women's third subdivision on the second day.