La delegación cubana conserva este miércoles el tercer puesto en el medal table of the Central American and Caribbean Games Santo Domingo 2026, con 16 gold medals, 16 silver medals, and 20 bronze medals, para un total de 52 preseas.
The criterion for classification —number of gold medals, not total medals— is what keeps Cuba on that podium step in front of its closest competitors.
Venezuela ranks fourth with 12 golds, 20 silvers, and 35 bronzes, totaling 67 medals—15 more than Cuba, but with four fewer titles.
Dominican Republic, the host of the event, is in fifth place with 10 golds, 11 silvers, and 31 bronzes, matching Cuba in the total number of medals (52) but unable to surpass it in the rankings due to a six-gold deficit.
At the top of the medal table, Mexico continues to dominate with authority: 57 golds, 47 silvers, and 34 bronzes (138 medals). Colombia ranks second with 34 golds, 33 silvers, and 23 bronzes (90 medals).
The Cuban harvest has been built on outstanding performances throughout the competition. Marlies Mejías opened the golden tally on Saturday by winning the women's individual time trial in 40:15.79, with an average speed of 44.7 km/h.
On that first day of the tournament finals, judo also contributed three gold medals at once: Jonathan Charón (-60 kg), Orlando Polanco (-66 kg), and Dali Sentmanat (-52 kg) all reached the top of the podium on the same day.
On Sunday, Reidy Cardona and Leduar Suárez won in the men's double scull rowing in Bonao, with a time of 6:32.80.
On Monday, there was a judo competition: Iván Silva (100 kg) and Andy Granda (+100 kg) added two more gold medals on the mat, while this Tuesday, Taymara Oropesa was crowned in women's individual badminton by defeating the Mexican Vanesa García with scores of 15-21, 22-20, and 21-15.
For Oropesa, the title was particularly significant: she had been the runner-up in Barranquilla 2018 and San Salvador 2023, and Santo Domingo 2026 marks her first individual gold in these games, concluding an eight-year wait.
Cuba arrived at this edition with 504 athletes in 42 disciplines, its largest recent delegation for the event, and with the official goal of finishing in the top three and accumulating 67 or 68 gold medals.
In the previous edition, San Salvador 2023, the delegation finished third with 74 golds, 59 silvers, and 63 bronzes, a result deemed their worst performance in over four decades.
With several competition days still to go, Cuba will seek to increase its gold medal haul to establish itself among the top three delegations in the regional event.
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