A new sporting setback for the regime took place last Friday night with the escape of the Cuban volleyball player Yamisleydis Viltres. The athlete, a native of Granma, left the concentration hotel after Cuba’s defeat against the United States, in the XIX Pan American Cup of the discipline, which ended this Sunday in Hermosillo, Sonora (Mexico).
The hotel cameras recorded Viltres leaving at 10:30 pm. The next day there was a meeting with the team in which they were informed that “the use of mobile phones was restricted”, as published Play-Off Magazine.
The athlete’s abandonment surprised the team’s directors, who did not expect to suffer a loss during her stay in Mexico and even less that of Viltres, who had contracted in Russia with the second team of VC Uralochka NTMK.
In Viltres’s last performance with the Cuban team, he got seven points as a result of his blocks. During last Friday’s game at the Arena Sonora, “the Cubans fought in the tie break to the point of reaching match point. However, their rivals managed to close a game in which they were only superior in attack (64-62),” highlighted Cubadebate, who did not say a word about the abandonment of the player. The team placed fifth in the XIX Pan American Cup.
The young woman, 21 years old, 1.89 meters and 73 kilos, was one of the volleyball figures for her outstanding interventions as a blocker during the Norceca Women’s U-20 Championship, in Aguascalientes (Mexico), where Cuba reached the semifinals, as well as in the U-20 Women’s Volleyball World Championship.
The island is experiencing a bloodletting of athletes, and not just baseball players, which seems endless. On August 23, Lázaro Taylor Fernández, one of the new Cuban benchmarks in athletics in the 400-meter hurdles, left the team’s concentration in the Bahamas.
The hotel cameras recorded Viltres leaving at 10:30 pm. The next day there was a meeting with the team in which they were informed that “the use of mobile phones was restricted”
Taylor was part of the entourage that participated in the fourth Athletics Championships of the North, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association, where she came in sixth place in the final of the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 50.09 seconds.
Another blow to the ruling party was the escape of the Cuban boxer billy rodriguezwho traveled to Mexico for his professional debut and after defeating Miguel Ángel Luna by knock out technician, decided not to return to the Island.
“It is the reality of Cuban sport and society right now. The situation will only increase. In 2023 there will be the Central American and Pan American Games in the same year,” journalist Francys Romero said about athlete dropouts.
On August 12, the escape of canoeists Reinier Carrera and Yoel García was confirmed. The young people took part in the Pan American Speed Canoeing Championship held in Halifax, Canada, and to which Cuba sent five canoeists and eight kayakers. According to Full Swingthe athletes “abandoned the tournament, even Garcia did not even compete.”
There are already 31 athletes who have escaped this year from Cuban teams during international competitions, including those who have decided to terminate a contract governed by the rules of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder).
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