Cuba will compete with nine wrestlers in the World Wrestling Championship in Astana, which will take place in the capital of Kazakhstan from October 24 to November 1, with the goal of erasing the bitter memory of the previous world competition.
This was confirmed by Martín Torres, the national commissioner of the discipline, in statements to the sports newspaper JIT. The delegation was divided into four representatives of Greco-Roman wrestling, two from men's freestyle, and three from women's freestyle.
The Greco-Roman team, under the leadership of coach Mario Olivera, arrives with two world-class athletes. Leading the team is Luis Orta (67 kg), Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020 and world champion in Belgrade 2023, along with Gabriel Rosillo (97 kg), who is also a world champion from that same event and a bronze medalist in Paris 2024.
They are joined by Kevin de Armas (63 kg) and Daniel Gregorich (87 kg), both Central American and Caribbean champions.
In the men's freestyle category, coach Jesús Rodríguez will lead Arturo Silot (97 kg), a two-time Central American and Caribbean champion —including the Santo Domingo 2026 Games— and Geannis Garzón (74 kg), a bronze medalist at an under-23 World Championship. Notably, Garzón triumphed in an international tournament in early May, which strengthens his chances for a podium finish in Astana.
The women's trio, led by the experienced Filiberto Delgado, is headed by Milaimy Marín (76 kg), who won the bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. She is joined by Yaynelis Sanz (55 kg), a two-time junior Pan American champion, and Greilis Bencosme (50 kg), who earned gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026.
The starting point for this delegation is uncomfortable: at the 2025 World Championship in Zagreb, Cuba finished in 27th place among countries with only one bronze medal, specifically Marín's, a result that contrasts with the historic tradition of the country in this discipline.
The event venue also experienced its own turbulence: Bahrain was originally designated as the host, but the International Federation of Associated Wrestling announced in May the move to Astana.
With figures of Olympic and world experience on the roster, Cuban wrestling arrives in Kazakhstan with the declared goal of regaining international prominence and leaving behind, once and for all, the modest achievement in Zagreb.
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