Guantanamo.- Cubangymnast Diorges Escobar secured a place for Cuba on the medal table at the 2025 Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championship held in Panama.
Confirmed as the island’s top athlete in the discipline, the gymnast from Sancti Spíritus shone in the floor exercise, earning a bronze medal—though many observers of the competition believe his performance deserved a higher standing.
Escobar posted a score of 13.633, finishing behind American Junnosuke Iwai (14.033), a medalist at World Cup events, and experienced Guatemalan Jorge Vega (13.800), the floor exercise champion at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
Notably, Escobar received the highest execution score among the eight finalists (8.433), despite having a routine with higher difficulty. Just six months ago, the Cuban team leader underwent shoulder surgery, which is why he only competed in four of the six apparatuses that comprise men’s artistic gymnastics.
Nonetheless, he reached the finals in three events. In addition to the floor, he qualified for the finals in the parallel bars and the horizontal bar.
In the latter, he finished sixth with a score of 11.567, while in the parallel bars he narrowly missed the podium, placing fourth with 13.500.
Fellow Cuban gymnast Alexander Sánchez, making his debut in international competition, also reached the top eight in the parallel bars, earning sixth place with a score of 13.167.
Yohendri Villaverde was the only Cuban gymnast to participate in all six apparatuses, finishing 15th in the individual all-around. He also made the vault final, where he placed fourth with a score of 13.183.
Canada’s Félix Dolci, who had already secured the top individual all-around score, emerged as the most decorated gymnast of the day with gold medals in three events. The United States maintained its tradition of excellence in team competition. According to reports from the website Gimnasia Latina, standout performances also came from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and Argentina.
The Cuban men’s team returns home having fulfilled its primary objective: qualifying as a team for the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo.
Unfortunately, the women’s team—comprising a very inexperienced squad—did not reach any event finals. They managed only to secure a single berth for next year’s games in the Dominican capital.
None of the female athletes had previously competed outside the island, a factor that significantly impacted their results. Moving forward, development efforts will focus on these young talents—recently graduated from the junior ranks and full of promise, but in need of greater competitive opportunities.
