Fernando Dayán Jorge, Olympic champion in canoeing, abandons Cuba's delegation in Mexico

March 10, 2022

Cuban canoeist Fernando Dayán Jorge, Olympic champion at the Tokyo Games in the double canoe at one thousand meters, abandoned a delegation from the Island in Mexico and thus severed ties with Caribbean sports.

According to the National Commission of that sport, the athlete, only 23 years old and a native of Cienfuegos, had traveled to Mexican territory to complete a training base.

The sports entity, cited by the digital site Jit, stated that in this way the also bronze medalist at last year's World Championship, incurred in "a serious breach of discipline that undermines years of intense work and aspects of the development strategy of that sport heading toward the Olympic cycles of Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028."

"Fernando Dayán, product of the sports education system on the Island, and particularly of the profound work carried out at the national school of this discipline, has turned his back on the commitment to new results for his sport and his people," the official statement notes.

In response to this fact, the National Canoeing Commission pointed out that "the work will continue in search of new canoeists to take his place and expand the results of a sport that experienced its best season in history in 2021."

The departure of Fernando Dayán Jorge is a hard blow for Cuban canoeing, one of the sports with the best results and progression for the Island in recent years.
A multi-medalist in international competitions, the Cienfuegos native reached the peak of his career last year, when he won in Tokyo in the C2 alongside veteran Serguey Torres, in a thrilling final decided at the last moment against China's canoe.

Now, his departure leaves uncertain the future of the Cuban men's double, an emblematic vessel of this discipline on the Island, which still has in its ranks young talents such as the hitherto singles paddler José Ramón Pelier, and the also world medalists in the double canoe, but in the female sector, Yarisleidis Cirilo and Katherin Nuevo.

To Fernando Dayán's departure seems to have been added also in Mexico that of Santiago kayaker Fidel Vargas, a Central American and Pan American medalist, which had not yet been confirmed by Cuban authorities, but was reported by media and unofficial sources.

If true, both departures would add to the long list of similar events carried out by athletes from the Island, several of whom have later defended the colors of other countries or, as in the case of numerous baseball players and volleyball players, have accessed the main professional circuits independently.