After winning a medal of each color, Cuba climbed several places on Wednesday and now rests in 21st place in the standings of the Olympic Games, as the competitive calendar for Paris 2024 approaches its final stretch.
Without a doubt, the news - and the biggest "boost" - of the day was the gold medal won by boxer Erislandy Álvarez, who defeated the Frenchman Sofiane Oumiha by split decision (3-2) to achieve glory in the 63.5-kilogram category.
At the Stade Roland Garros, the athlete from Cienfuegos was a punching machine and exposed the defensive weaknesses of the local Oumiha, silver medalist from Rio de Janeiro 2016 and three-time world champion (2017, 2021, 2023).
Intense, furious, master of the distances, this is how Álvarez appeared to take revenge for the setback suffered in the previous world championship. From start to finish, he was the best in the division.
Also, the Cuban Yusneylis Guzmán lost this Wednesday to the American favorite Sara Ann Hildebrandt (0-3) in the freestyle final, but her silver medal represented the first for women's wrestling from the island at Olympic events.
On her 28th birthday, "La Chiqui," as many call her, could not withstand the push of the American, who had won a bronze medal in the competition under the five rings of Tokyo 2020.
To reach the discussion of the 50-kilogram crown, the wrestler born in Havana surpassed the Turkish Evi Demirhan in her debut (7-6) and won by superiority (10-0) against the Lithuanian Gabija Dilyte in the quarterfinals.
However, she fell to the Indian Vinesh Vinesh (0-5) in the semifinal round. But due to the twists that life takes, her conqueror failed to make weight on the usual competition date and was automatically eliminated.
Meanwhile, Greco-Roman wrestler Gabriel Rosillo won the bronze in the 97 kg category, following the injury suffered by the Uzbek Rustam Assakalov just seconds after the fight began.
Rosillo, world champion in 2023, did not sweat too much in the jersey after Assakalov presented a muscle issue in one of his shoulders and decided not to continue the decisive fight.
The Santiago native, considered one of the favorites in the division, came close to competing for the gold medal on Tuesday after losing in the semifinals to the Armenian Artur Alexanián (3-5).
The Pan-American monarch brought out all his arsenal of techniques, but he failed to defeat a man who has four crowns at a global level and experienced glory in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
These awards joined the crown of the legend Mijaín López (130) in wrestling and the third place of boxer Arlen López (80).
For the epilogue of the competition, canoeist Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboys (C2-200 meters) appears as the only real title contender, making it difficult for the island to match or exceed the predictions of its sports authorities.
A few weeks ago, José Antonio Miranda, director of High Performance at the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER), stated that the goal was to win five gold medals and finish among the top 25 nations in the medal count.
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