Orta wins his first world title and places Cuba among the world's best by countries

September 25, 2023

Olympic champion Greco-Roman wrestler Luis Alberto Orta delivered another excellent performance at the World Wrestling Championship in Belgrade, and reached the top of the podium in the 67 kg division, a result that gave Cuba its second gold and third medal of the tournament.

Orta, seventh in the last world competition, defeated Azerbaijani Hasrat Jafarov in the final, a bronze medalist worldwide in 2022 and current European champion.

In the match, the Cuban trailed in the first period, 1-3, but made excellent use of the second period and without losing the initiative managed to score a point on three different occasions, a performance that allowed him to come back and turn the match in his favor. Ultimately, the scoreboard closed with a tight 4-3.

Before this final, the Tokyo 2020 champion in the 60 kg category notched victories against Tunisian Souleymen Nasr (8-0), Romanian Mihai Radu Mihut (8-0), Serbian Matej Nemes (3-2), and Kyrgyz Amantur Ismailov (9-1).

This result confirms Orta among the planet's elite and is a boost to his goals for the upcoming Olympic Games. Precisely, at this world championship Cuba secured four spots for Paris 2024.

In addition to Luis Alberto, Milaimys Marín secured spots in the 76 kg women's wrestling division, and Gabriel Rosillo (97 kg) and Oscar Pino (130 kg) in Greco-Roman.

Cuba leaves Budapest with the titles of Orta and Rosillo, as well as Pino's bronze medal, all in the Greco-Roman style.

This performance, together with Yosvanys Peña's seventh place in the 77 kg category, gave the Cuban team in this modality the fourth place by countries.

Ahead of the Island were the delegations of Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey.