Cuban auctioneer Alegna Osorio Mayarí dies after three months of fighting for her life

July 30, 2021

The Cuban hammer thrower Alegna Osorio Mayarí, bronze medalist at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games, died on Wednesday, July 28 after three months hospitalized following a serious accident in the training areas of the Panamerican Village in Havana del Este.

The young Cuban, originally from Camagüey, was reported in stable critical condition with danger to her life for the last few months. The news was confirmed by Agramon journalist Félix Anazco, who wrote on social media: "She was fighting for the last few months to overcome the coma and the injuries caused by an accident with an implement from her sport, but last night she could not continue. Light for our champion."

Reynaldo Varona, an official from the Provincial Sports Directorate in Camagüey, the athlete's birthplace, also reported on the death. He received the impact of a hammer to the head at the end of April, when training in Havana outside the facilities of the Cuban Athletics Federation.

At that time, there were no official reports from the sports authorities on the Island nor any publication by Cuban media about the incident, which sparked a series of comments about the circumstances in which the unfortunate event occurred.

According to several sources, Alegna and another group of athletes who were not in the plans for the Tokyo Olympic Games were sent back to their provinces, where they were supposed to continue working as much as possible.

However, Alegna's coach suggested that she remain in Havana to continue her preparation. Although the detailed circumstances of the tragic accident are unknown, everything seems to indicate that a hammer struck the head of the young Agramon athlete during a training session outside the facilities of the Cuban Athletics Federation and without proper safety measures, causing her serious skull injuries.

Alegna's death is a hard blow to athletics on the Island, which had the 19-year-old as one of its main prospects.

Alegna won the bronze medal at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she made throws over 63 meters. In that competition she finished behind Ukrainian Valeriya Ivanenko and Egyptian Rawan Ayman Ibrahim Barakat. Many predicted that through her the tradition of the specialty could be recovered in the future, where the great historical figure of Cuba has been the also Agramon native Yipsy Moreno, current national commissioner of this sport.