Related videos:
Leyanis Pérez, world champion in triple jump, and Julio César La Cruz, two-time Olympic boxing champion, have been appointed as flag bearers for the Cuban delegation at the 25th Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026, as confirmed on Wednesday by Oscar Nuevo, director of the high performance department of the Cuban Sports Institute (INDER).
According to the agency Prensa Latina, the event will be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from July 24 to August 8, 2026, and Cuba aims to finish among the top three in the overall medal standings.
Nuevo specified that the Cuban delegation could exceed 500 athletes, although at the time of the announcement only 429 spots are secured —240 men and 189 women— with spots still pending in athletics, women's handball, and several wildcard invitations.
Despite the economic difficulties the country is facing, between 900 and 1,000 athletes make up the national preselection and are following their training programs at high-performance centers, with 221 athletes returning from the San Salvador 2023 Games.
Leyanis Pérez arrives at the event as the most dominant figure in the world of triple jump. In March 2026, she defended her indoor world title in Toruń, Poland, with a mark of 14.95 meters, and in September 2025, she won the gold at the outdoor World Championships in Tokyo with 14.94 meters, accumulating a total of four world titles.
Julio César La Cruz, nicknamed "La Sombra" and hailing from Camagüey, is a two-time Olympic champion—gold in Rio 2016 and gold in Tokyo 2020—and a five-time world heavyweight boxing champion. In December 2024, he retained his world title in the Bahamas by technical knockout. His appointment as flag bearer in Santo Domingo 2026 marks his second consecutive time, having carried the Cuban flag at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he was eliminated in the first round.
The official from INDER identified Mexico, Colombia, and the host country, the Dominican Republic, as Cuba's main competitors in the race for top positions in the medal tally.
The event also has classificatory relevance: 19 of the 40 sports involved offer spots for the Pan American Games in Lima 2027, which enhances the strategic importance of Cuban participation beyond the regional medal count.
Cuba dominated the Central American and Caribbean Games consecutively from Panama 1970 to Barranquilla 2018—except for absences in 2002 and 2010—when Mexico took the regional leadership. At San Salvador 2023, the island delegation finished third, behind Mexico and Colombia, with 69 golds and a total of 182 medals. The official goal for Santo Domingo 2026 is to surpass those 74 titles and the total number of medals achieved three years ago in the Salvadoran capital.
Filed under: