Yusneylis Guzmán, the first Olympic medalist in the history of Cuban women’s wrestling, grabs a towel and climbs onto the mat to “cool off” Milaymis de la Caridad Marín, the future second Olympic medalist in Cuban women’s wrestling. It’s August 11, 2024, and we are writing a sentence that didn’t make the slightest sense just a few years ago.
Cuba is a struggling country, true, and no one knows it better than women, but because of prejudices, fears, and senseless ideas, they took an eternity to enter a sport that is widespread throughout the world. At first, I vaguely remember that the places on the teams at different levels were filled with some athletes of other modalities, who made the transition to the new specialty.
They were all “green” and it was difficult to think of a successful future, but little by little solid steps were taken in the training of wrestlers from head to toe. Thus the names of Liset Echevarría, Yaritza Abel, Sheila Espinosa, Yagnelis Mestre, Yamilca del Valle, Katerina Vidiaux, Yakelin Estornell or Yusneylis Guzmán emerged, the first stars of Cuban women’s wrestling and also pioneers in terms of international victories.
Podiums and titles in the Central American and Caribbean Games or Pan American events marked the path to success for a discipline that has not stopped growing in recent years. The icing on the cake has arrived in Paris 2024, the great challenge under the five rings, where an experienced athlete like Guzmán and the young Milaymis Marín have written an unprecedented page by becoming the first Olympic medalists in this specialty on the island.
We know Yusneylis’ story. She was mentally prepared to fight for bronze, to finally register women’s wrestling in the Cuban Olympic medal table. Still, irregularities in the weigh-in of the Indian Vinesh Phogat paved the way for her to the podium and she ended up with a silver medal. That result already tasted like glory, but the Cuban gladiators had not had the last word in Paris.
Milaymis de la Caridad Marín, the greatest promise of women’s wrestling on the island, climbed onto the mats of Champ de Mars Arena and her performances were a tremendous display of pure energy. The Havana native, with her overflowing talent, overwhelmed the Bulgarian Yuliana Yaneva in her debut and then lost against the U.S. Kennedy Blades, but not before demanding and giving her a scare in the epilogue of the fight.
The defeat sent her to the bench for the repechage, an instance that she won without fighting against the Romanian Cătălina Axente, who did not show up due to injury. This success was a good sign for Milaymis because Axente was precisely the rival she had beaten in September 2023 to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Then there was one last test, none other than against the world-ranking leader, the Kyrgyz Aiperi Medet Kyzy, and the Cuban passed it with honors. Marín left no room for doubt: she attacked early and managed to leave her opponent off balance on three occasions to score 6 points that became an abyss. At the same time, she defended herself intelligently, without taking unnecessary risks.
Towards the end of the fight, Aiperi made a last desperate attempt to score against the Cuban, who ended up on the mat, watching the seconds slip away from the clock and the door that gave her access to the Olympic podium open.
“I lost in the quarterfinals and I was unhappy, but from then on everything was a clean slate and I went out to fight for my bronze, which is almost as difficult as gold because you know that if you lose in the repechage you are left with nothing,” said an exultant Marín in front of the accredited media in Paris.
The 76-kilogram wrestler, who missed some time last year due to a problem in one of her eyes, was accompanied at all times from the technical area by Yusneylis Guzmán and her coach Filiberto Delgado, who will go down in history as the strategist who put two wrestlers from the island on the Olympic podium.
“I felt their voices next to me. Regardless of the noise from the stands, I only heard the two of them,” said an emotional Marín.
“I’m very happy. I can’t believe it. I’m not sure what I’ve achieved,” added the Havana native, who concluded her adventure in Paris doing somersaults and with a forceful phrase: “I feel empowered, like an example for Cuban women. We are all warriors.”
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