Three members of the Cuban national judo team have left their delegation following their participation in the Pan American Open in Florida, disrupting the team’s roster just days before a scheduled competition in Montreal. The departures of Jonathan Charón, Lianet Cardona, and Dayanara Curbelo were confirmed through reports from Cubalite and Infobae, leaving the national squad to adjust its strategy for the upcoming Canadian tournament.
Three Young Athletes Leave the Cuban Delegation in Florida
According to Alain Fernández, a judo coach based in the United States, Cardona and Curbelo left the team on Tuesday. Cubalite reported the following day that Charón had also separated from the delegation after completing his matches. The three athletes, all between 21 and 22 years old, had been expected to travel to Montreal for the next leg of the Pan American circuit. Their absence leaves a significant void in the Cuban lineup, as each had recently secured a podium finish in Florida. The athletes were considered key figures with projection for upcoming international tournaments, and their departure forced a major adjustment for the squad that was set to proceed to Canada. Orlando Polanco, Iván Felipe Silva, and Andy Granda secured the other titles for the Cuban delegation at the Florida event.
The timing of these departures follows a trend of athletes leaving Cuban national teams during international travel. Infobae noted that this event occurred only one day after the reported departure of Olympic wrestling medalist Yusneylis Guzmán López, who left her delegation during a stopover in Mexico while the team was en route to Brazil. Guzmán, 30, was a silver medalist in the 50-kilogram freestyle category at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and was previously named Cuba’s best female athlete of the year. Official figures from Cuban sports authorities have previously acknowledged that more than 1,000 athletes have left state-sanctioned delegations since 2013.
Performance at the Florida Open
The three judokas had been among the most successful members of the Cuban contingent in Florida. Jonathan Charón, 22, won the gold medal in the 60-kilogram division, defeating Brazil’s Michel Augusto in the final. His performance continued a strong run of form that has seen him reach the podium in four consecutive Pan American championships: bronze in Calgary 2023 and Rio de Janeiro 2024, silver in Santiago 2025, and gold in Panama City 2026. He also earned a bronze medal at the 2025 Tbilisi Grand Slam and a title in Santo Domingo. The Guantanamo native arrived at the Florida event having also won gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games.
Her international record also includes bronze medals at the 2026 Santo Domingo Central American and Caribbean Games, as well as the 2024 Rio de Janeiro and 2025 Santiago de Chile Pan American and Oceania Championships. Dayanara Curbelo, 21, also claimed silver in the over-78-kilogram class, falling to Venezuela’s Karen León in the championship match after defeating Poland’s Urszula Hofman and the Dominican Republic’s Moira Morillo. Curbelo, a native of Artemisa, had previously served as Cuba’s flag bearer at the 2025 Junior Pan American Games in Asunción, where she won the country’s only judo gold. She also earned bronze medals at the 2026 Santo Domingo Central American and Caribbean Games and the 2026 Panama City Continental Championship.
Coach’s assessment of current challenges
Addressing the broader implications of the departures, coach Alain Fernández expressed frustration regarding the state of the sport on the island. As cited by Infobae, Fernández questioned the loss of talent, asking, ¿Hasta cuándo seguiremos perdiendo atletas que tanto esfuerzo y sacrificio nos ha costado formar?
(Until when will we continue losing athletes who have cost us so much effort and sacrifice to train?).
He argued these factors continue to affect the sport, a sentiment echoed by the results of the Paris 2024 Olympics, where the Cuban delegation recorded its lowest medal count in 52 years with only nine medals, while 21 athletes who had emigrated from the island and competed for other nations secured an identical number of medals.
Status of the athletes
While the departures of Charón, Cardona, and Curbelo have been confirmed through media reports citing team sources, their current whereabouts remain unknown. The team’s planning for the Montreal Open, which was intended to feature these three medalists, has been altered as a result of their sudden exit from the delegation. It is not yet known where the athletes are currently located or what their next professional steps will be.
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