MIAMI, United States. — Cuban rowers Maykol Julio Álvarez, Yoelvis Javier Hernández and Osvaldo Pérez left the island’s delegation that participated in the qualifying tournament for the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile.
According to the photographer Yuniet Ávila, who promotes the channel specialized in sports Yuni Sportsthe first to leave was Havana’s Álvarez, who allegedly decided to stay in Chile after winning, together with Carlos Ajete, Yoelvis Hernández and Reidy Cardona, the silver medal in the four par category (4X) and thus guaranteeing his ticket to the Pan American Games which will take place from October 20 to November 5 of next year.
Meanwhile, Hernández Companioni (Santi Spíritus) and Osvaldo Pérez (Cienfuegos) left the team during a stopover in Mexico on their way back to Cuba.
Prior to the withdrawals, the president of the Cuban Rowing Federation, Ángel Luis García, had informed the official media Hit about the “enthusiasm” of the athletes to compete on the same track that will host the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile.
The withdrawals of Maykol Julio Álvarez, Yoelvis Javier Hernández and Osvaldo Pérez represent a hard blow for Cuban rowing, which last year recorded six leaks.
On November 16, 2022, Ernier Tamayo, Alexei Carballosa and Nayala Torres They left the national delegation that were at a training base in Mexico. The athletes followed in the footsteps of Boris Luis Guerra, who had left the team the day before.
Shortly after, Jorge Patterson and Yudisleidys Rodríguez fled after one of their training sessions at the Virgilio Uribe Olympic track, located in Mexico City (CDMX).
The abandonment of Cuban athletes, mostly young, is part of the massive exodus suffered by the Caribbean country, a fact that was recognized on April 19 by the Cuban ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez in his speech before the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP).
