The Cuban freestyle wrestler, Yusneylis Guzmán López (50 kg), will compete for the gold medal in her event this Wednesday after her semifinal opponent was disqualified due to weight issues.
According to the sports portal JIT - citing the Cuban delegation as a source - the event's organizing committee notified that Guzmán will take the place of Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who exceeded the weight limit in the morning weigh-in and was eliminated from the competition.
The Indian athlete, who placed ninth in Tokyo 2020 but was defeated by the Cuban in the semifinals of these Olympics, exceeded the weight limit by 100 grams, which led to her immediate withdrawal from the Olympic event.
After that incident, the Cuban immediately began competing for the gold medal on the afternoon of this Wednesday.
Yusneylis Guzmán -known as “La Chiqui”- will fight for the 50-kilogram title in women's wrestling against the American Sara Ann Hildebrandt, who won bronze in Tokyo.
The Cuban fighter, a student of the experienced Filiberto Delgado, had already made a historic performance by reaching the semifinal stage, and although she lost 0-5 to Vinesh in that instance, if it hadn't been for the favorable turn of circumstances, she would have contended for the bronze medal.
This is the second time that the 28-year-old from Havana competes in the Olympics. In Tokyo 2020, Yusneylis finished in 12th place and now she can fight for gold, which is no small feat.
Guzmán, who has at least secured the silver, has become the first Cuban woman to win a medal in Olympic wrestling.
At this moment, Cuba is in 40th place in the medal table in Paris, with one gold medal and one bronze.
The gold medal, which allowed the island to improve several positions in the country ranking, was won this Tuesday by the stellar Greco-Roman wrestler Mijaín López.
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