Cuban wrestler Yasmani Acosta hopes to be the flag bearer for Chile in Paris 2024.

With an extensive range of skills at the regional and planetary level, Cuban wrestler Yasmani Acosta becomes one of the main figures of the Chilean delegation to Paris 2024, hence he does not hide his desire to be the flag bearer of the delegation at the upcoming Olympic Games.

In dialogue with the digital page latercera.com, the gladiator openly shared that while the subject "excites him a lot," he finds it difficult to materialize his dream due to "a lot of xenophobia" in the country.

"I'm very excited about it, but I've always had my doubts. Many people love immigrants, but with this migration case that has been uncovered, there is also a lot of xenophobia," said the person born in Santiago de Cuba.

In that line, the Greek scholar added that "people are intelligent and can differentiate between good and bad immigrants, but I feel that xenophobia still exists. There are people who do not say it openly because they fear what the public might say."

"I may have had that vision, maybe it's correct, maybe not, but I would like to be the flagbearer, even though I know that in the eyes of others I am an immigrant. In such an important event, which is a milestone for Chile, I hope they think about how it should be," emphasized the fighter according to the news outlet Publimetro.

"If it's not me who ends up being successful, but it's any other immigrant, it would be good, because in the end you are giving a push, you are making it visible. The great powers have many migrants," stated the bronze medalist at the Santiago de Chile 2023 Pan American Games.

"Are you going to tell me that France won a World Cup only with French players? Are you going to tell me that Americans do not naturalize Jamaicans? If the big powers do it, why wouldn't we, who are still in diapers, do it? You have to open yourself to it, say ‘Were you Haitian? It doesn't matter anymore, now you are Chilean, you are going to compete for Chile and I love you like anyone else.’ I think it would be nice because they are people who are going to contribute," said the award-winning athlete.

Yasmani Acosta is one of the main exponents in his category at a global level, standing out for having reached fourth place in Tokyo 2020 in the 130-kilogram category.

In 2015, while participating in the Pan American championship specific to his discipline in Santiago, Chile, he decided not to return to Cuba.

That step led him to work as a security guard for two years, during which he did not have sports training and was in the process of obtaining competition permits.

Once he obtained permission in 2017, he resumed his sports career by establishing himself at the Olympic Center of Chile.

In his first year representing the South American nation, Acosta won a silver medal at the Pan American Championship of the sport and a bronze medal at the world tournament.

2018 was another significant year for him, as he not only received Chilean citizenship, but also won a bronze medal in the Pan American Championships, gold in the South American Games, and placed eighth in the world championship.

In 2019, he added another bronze medal at the Pan American Championships, and has shined in various European Grand Prix events.

Furthermore, they won the gold at the 2020 Pan American Championship, thus ensuring a spot in the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where they came close to the podium by finishing in fourth place.