Cuban Bronze in Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Tournament

Havana, June 16 – Diorges Escobar from Sancti Spiritus secured Cuba a place in the medal standings at the 2025 Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Panama.

Reaffirmed as the island's leading figure, Diorges shone in the floor exercise to earn a bronze medal that many who followed the competition believe should have been better.

He completed a score of 13.633 points and joined American Junnosuke Iwai (14.033), a World Cup medalist, and experienced Guatemalan Jorge Vega (13.800), who was champion in this event at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.

Diorges received the highest score for execution among the eight finalists (8.433), although his program difficulty was higher. Six months ago, the leader of the Cuban team underwent shoulder surgery, which is why he only competed on four of the six events in this discipline.

However, he reached the finals on three of them. In addition to floor, he was in contention for awards on the parallel bars and horizontal bars.

In the latter, he finished sixth with 11.567 points, and on the parallel bars, he finished fourth with 13.500.

Fellow Cuban Alexander Sánchez, making his international debut, also placed among the top eight on the parallel bars, achieving sixth place with a score of 13.167.

Yohendri Villaverde was the only Cuban to compete in all six exercises and placed fifteenth in the individual all-around. He also competed in the vault final, placing fourth with 13.183 points.

Canadian Felix Dolci, who had already been the top individual all-around scorer, became the most "golden" of the day, leading in three events. The United States maintained its tradition of shining as a team, and according to the Gimnasia Latina website, the performances of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and Argentina were pleasing.

The Cubans return home with their main objective accomplished among the men: they qualified as a team for the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo.

Unfortunately, the women, who participated with a very inexperienced team, were unable to reach any finals and only managed to secure a spot for the event in the Dominican capital next year.

None of the girls enrolled in the group had previously competed outside the island, a factor that greatly influenced the result. It's time to continue working with these young figures, fresh from the youth ranks and talented, but in need of more opportunities. (Text and photo: JIT)