Ismael Borrero and four other Cuban wrestlers abandon delegation in Mexico

May 10, 2022

The Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling at Rio 2016, Ismael Borrero, abandoned the Cuban delegation that arrived in the Mexican city of Acapulco and participated in the Pan American Championship of the discipline. Borrero traveled with Cuba's representative group, but after his arrival in Mexico he left the team and his whereabouts remain unknown.

⛔OFFICIAL⛔

? Olympic monarch and two-time world champion in wrestling Ismael Borrero abandons delegation in Mexico

Reported by @jit_digital pic.twitter.com/g5OTLvlLlc

— Jesús Muñoz (@JesuscubaMM89) May 4, 2022

The newspaper Jit, first to break the news, said that "unfortunately, the arrival was marked by the abandonment of the delegation by Santiago-born Greco-Roman wrestler Ismael Borrero, Olympic champion and two-time world champion. Borrero's decision constitutes serious indiscipline within the Cuban sports system and sets aside the objectives of his team in this competition and in the four-year period leading up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games."

"The remaining members of the delegation are living their first training sessions and will make their debut on Thursday, May 5 in the Greco-Roman style. This competition grants the right to participate in the world championship in Belgrade 2022, in September, and will also award slots for the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile 2023," the newspaper specified.

Among his achievements, Ismael Borrero treasured the aforementioned Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016, in addition to two world titles: Las Vegas 2015 and, most recently, the world crown conquered in Nur Sultan 2019.

In this way, Cuba lost one of its greatest hopes for the five-ring event in Paris 2024, for which he was their main figure in his division. Thus, the strategy of this sport collapsed with the departure of Olympic champion Ismael Borrero, who opted for a path already traditional for hundreds of Cuban athletes, who decide to build a future outside the island.

Also, Cuban wrestlers Leonardo Herrera, Amanda Hernández, Cristian Solenzal and Yolanda Cordero, deserted from the Cuban delegation at the 2022 Pan American Wrestling Championship, which ended on Sunday, May 8 in Acapulco, Mexico.

Herrera, a native of Pinar del Río, lost his first fight on May 6 in the Quarterfinals of the competition against Peruvian Joao Marcos Benavides.

On the other hand, Amanda Hernández, 24 years old and weighing (53 Kg), decided not to appear at the match scheduled for Saturday against Colombian Yalixa Parra.

It is worth mentioning that Hernández was champion at the Youth Pan American Championship in 2014 and also won bronze in the same event, but in 2016.

Cristian Solenzal (65 Kg), from Sancti Spíritus, and Yolanda Cordero (62 Kg), 19 years old, also decided, like many athletes, to abandon the Cuban delegation in the Aztec country to seek better opportunities.

Borrero, 30 years old, has won three consecutive Pan American championships, in 2012, 2013, and 2014, and also won the gold medal at the world wrestling tournaments in Las Vegas in 2015 and in Nursultán in 2019.

It is important to mention that the Cuban delegation arrived in Mexico with 18 wrestlers for the 2022 Pan American Wrestling Championship, in search of spots for the World Championship in Belgrade, which will take place next September, and also for the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile 2023.