In 2015, the athlete Yasmani Acosta (Matanzas, 1987), runner-up in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Paris Olympic Games, decided to escape from the Cuban delegation with which he attended the Pan American Games in Chile that year. To achieve this, he received help from the Chilean wrestler Andrés Ayub, with whom the Cuban still maintains a good friendship.
Everything was forged in a gym conversation when Yasmani Acosta, who had traveled to Chile with the now five-time Olympic champion Mijaín López, asked Ayub what the chances were of finding work in Chile. According to the story that Ayub has told El Deportivo, he replied that if he wanted to stay, he could count on his help.
On that occasion, Yasmani Acosta, who represented Chile in Paris, was nervous, competed, and lost to a Dominican, but fulfilled his commitment to deliver the spot, unlike other Cubans, explains Ayub, who flee before the competition.
The Chilean fighter recalls that the situation was complex because he had to hide Yasmani Acosta and chose the Marín 014 motel for that, famous for its themed rooms. "We both went in, just imagine when they saw us arrive... I gave him some cash, some food, and the next day I went to pick him up. Then we took him with a friend to a guesthouse. He spent two days sleeping on some tiny beds like half a plaza, and from there we took him to a friend's house," he remembers.
Those early years, as Yasmani Acosta himself has recounted on some occasions, were particularly difficult because he, by staying in Chile, could not return to Cuba for five years, although later he learned it was three. He remembers that at first he missed his loved ones very much and was also overwhelmed by the uncertainty of not knowing if he had made the right decision. "I am very homebound. I'm not one to go out, and I suffered a lot," he said in an interview with Cooperativa FM, referring to the separation from his family.
To help him cope with nostalgia, Yasmani Acosta's Chilean friends, including Ayub, invited him to all the family celebrations. Later, the Cuban met his girlfriend, Rommina Sepúlveda, who was born in Sweden but raised in Chile. According to the Chilean media outlet En Cancha, she met the Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling on Tinder and paid for a ticket for him to visit her. They have been together for eight years and live in Valparaíso.
Andrés Ayub also claims that he helped Yasmani Acosta with the paperwork with the authorities. However, the Cuban went two years without training, working as a security guard until he obtained residency at the Olympic Center in Chile. And from that moment on, his life changed. He resumed his sports successes until he reached Paris.
In statements to the Chilean press, Ayub recalled that he has had a sports experience similar to that of Yasmani Acosta, who fought the final against his friend and mentor Mijaín López. He had to fight against 'The Giant of Herradura' in Toronto, and on that occasion, as happened now in Paris with Yasmani, he said: "See you in the final."
For Ayub, the fight for the gold between Yasmani Acosta and Mijaín López was "the perfect final he was looking for" as the Cuban nationalized Chilean believes that if he does not get injured and takes care of himself, he can win the gold in Los Angeles 2028.
In any case, the silver medal achieved in Paris by Yasmani Acosta compensates for the fifth place and the Olympic diploma he earned in Tokyo, something he had not overcome before these Olympic Games. In fact, in an interview, he confessed that Tokyo still hurts him because he retains the feeling that the referees did not favor him when he fought for bronze, and that is why he worked hard this time so that his victory would not depend on the judgment of a third party.
Chile was eagerly anticipating the Olympic medal that Yasmani Acosta could bring in these Games. The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, sent a message on social media to the Cuban-born wrestler before he competed for gold in a historic match against Mijaín López. After he won the medal, he wrote: "Tremendous Yasmani in Paris 2024! Thank you for your silver medal for Chile in Greco-Roman wrestling. We know about your effort and work to get to where you are. Congratulations, champ!"
On March 25, 2024, Yasmani Acosta informed his Instagram followers about the start of "the most important and toughest preparation" for the Paris Olympic Games. Nearly five months ago, he mentioned that he planned to be several weeks outside of Chile training at the highest level for the "final battle." This has brought an Olympic silver medal to his adopted country and to his challenging sports career.
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