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“It’s never too late if the outcome is good,” says a saying that highlights the present of Cuban judoka María Celia Laborde after her inclusion in the United States delegation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was officially announced this Wednesday.
Although her athletic abilities have never been questioned, life's circumstances and personal decisions delayed her debut in the Olympic arena: she was absent from Rio de Janeiro 2016 and also from Tokyo 2020. Nevertheless, this mat warrior has remained determined, and at 33 years old, she will strive for glory on the world's biggest sports stage.
"A dream come true," he wrote on his Facebook profile in response to the news, and the congratulations keep coming.
Representing her home country, the young athlete won a team bronze medal at the 2013 World Championship and returned to the podium the following year with a third-place finish in the individual category of 48 kilograms at the global event in Chelyabinsk, Russia, where she was one of the favorites for the gold medal.
Soon after, he dominated the division at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico. It was right there that he left the delegation, crossed the border, and disappeared from competitive radar.
It is worth mentioning that Laborde has always possessed the necessary attributes to uphold the achievements of a highly acclaimed figure in Cuban sports, as previous stars of the caliber of Legna Verdecia, Amarilis Savón, and Yanet Bermoy have paved the way.
After moving to the United States, Laborde received citizenship in 2022 and began competing that same season. In 2023, she made history as the first representative of that nation to win a medal at the Masters Worlds since 2016, when she took silver, a remarkable achievement highlighted by the official website of American judo.
However, Paris 2024 will not be their debut in multi-sport events under the Stars and Stripes, as they secured third place at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
The U.S. team also includes Angélica Delgado, Jack Yonezuka, and John Jayne, who qualified after an extensive ranking process and additional continental slots.
"This group has a mix of youth and experience, and I am excited about the future both in Paris and as we look toward Los Angeles (2028)," said Eddie Liddie, the high-performance director of judo in the U.S.
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