Photo: JIT.

Havana, February 24 (JIT) -- Cuban Laura Herin finished fifth in the 53 kg division at the Acapulco 2024 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Mexico.

The young gladiator defeated Brazil's Sabrina Gama (6-2) and Chile's Antonia Alejandra Valdes (10-0) in the qualifying and quarter-final rounds, respectively.

She then lost in the semi-finals to Ecuador's Lucia Yamileth Yepez, the eventual champion of the category, with a 11-0 score. In the bronze medal match, Laura was unable to beat Katie Brianna Gomez of the United States, also by technical superiority (10-0).

Evidently, the Cuban athlete took advantage of this competition to test herself for the pre-Olympic competition that will take place in the same Mexican city at the end of this Pan-American Games.

This illustrates her total control of her body weight and her good physical condition, otherwise she would have been spared four bouts. What she has seen on the mats at the same time alerts us to the difficulty of the challenge of reaching the final in a few days, the only way to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

Also this Friday the freestyle event started and Cuba had actions with the veteran Geandry Garzón Caballero in the 74 kg and Yurieski Torreblanca in the 86 kg.