Seven Cuban athletes escape during the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games

World.- Cuban athletes escaped from the delegation at the closing of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, six players of the women’s field hockey team and a 400-meter hurdles sprinter escaped.
This Sunday, November 5, the closing ceremony of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games was held, which took place in the capital of Chile for the first time in history. Thousands of athletes from all corners of the American continent spent a few days in the capital of the trans-Andean country with the aim of winning a medal for their nation or trying to surpass themselves in the most relevant multidisciplinary event in the region.
In the run-up to the closing ceremony, and at the time of having to return to their homeland, there were a handful of Cuban athletes who decided to take advantage of the opportunity to separate from the delegation and take another destination for their lives and sports careers. According to Radio Bio-Bio, six players from the women’s field hockey team suddenly left the training camp on Saturday, the last day of activity in the discipline.
The names that emerged were Jennifer Martinez, Yakira Guillen, Lismary Gonzalez, Helec Carta, Geidy Morales and captain Yunia Milanes. The flight came shortly after the end of the fifth-place match in which Cuba lost 3-0 to Uruguay at the Field Hockey Sports Center located in the facilities of the National Stadium.
Hours later, PlayOff Magazine added that bronze medalist in the 400-meter hurdles Yoao Illas also escaped from the Cuban delegation. At 21 years old, the sprinter achieved his personal best in the final of the Pan American Games with a time of 49.74 seconds, a mark that was enough for him to be in third place on the podium. The last presentation of the young man was last Friday, November 3 on the court of the Coliseum of the Julio Martínez National Stadium.
Cuban journalist Francys Romero detailed that a total of 62 athletes abandoned contracts or national delegations during 2023 and nine escaped at the Pan American Games. Another similar precedent occurred during the development of the Gold Cup in the United States where soccer players Roberney Caballero, Neiser Sandó, Denilson Milanes, Jassael Herrea and Sandy Sánchez decided to escape from the hotel where they were staying.
The severe economic hardship that Cubans have been suffering for more than two years has fueled an unprecedented exodus on the island. The most resonant cases in 2023 were those of world champions Yoenlis Feliciano Hernández (boxing) and Denia Caballero (discus). Other athletes have chosen to emigrate legally, as is the case of baseball player Yariel Rodríguez. In the local media, they reflect these news as “serious indisciplines” and even classify them as “betrayals”.

Original source in Spanish