Cuban Pentathlon
Havana, Dec 29 (JIT) - One of the main aspirations for next year of the Cuban national modern pentathlon team is to qualify for the 25th Central American and Caribbean Games Santo Domingo 2026.
"We hope that at least five of our representatives, three men and two women, achieve places for that regional event. That is what they are preparing for, what they need is to attend the convened events and get the results," Frank Alberto Martinez, national commissioner of the discipline, told JIT.
For this they will count on their top exponents Juan Pablo Velázquez and Sunel Lezcano, both from Havana, and the youngest promotion in the male branch, Yon Pablo Martínez, from Holguín. Among the ladies the greatest possibilities of achieving that goal lie with Diana Leyva from Las Tunas and Adriana Sanamé from Holguín.
"We are also working with young figures who could make the marks towards Santo Domingo 2026, among those who are preparing for these games, among those who are being discussed are Lisandra Puentes from Villaclare and Yunisleidy Sanchez, also from Holguin," he said.
Martinez commented that the rest of the members of the national team are very young, but a long-term work is being carried out to try to guarantee Cuba's participation in other international events, which are no less important for them, such as the Pan American Junior Championship, to be held in Argentina in August.
This competition takes on greater significance because the pentathletes of the Greater of the Antilles are already trying to qualify for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, much more because this sport is not included in the program of the II Junior Pan American Games of Asuncion 2025.
"We attended the Junior Pan American in Resende, Brazil, in early December, and we were able to have a positive performance with Lezcano and Martinez, however we still need to complete the critical route within the calendar, that is, two more competitions, the one in Argentina, and another to define the venue," explained the executive.
For 2025, the modern pentathlon includes in its agenda the traditional school, pioneer, and youth games, with venues in the province of Granma, which represent stability in the selection of talents.
Another commitment is to hold the first selective championship, which Frank Alberto considers strategic for the sport in the country, since it especially guarantees to keep the athletes in their transition from the youth category to the senior category.
In the meantime, Varadero will once again be the scenario of an international competition at home, the Pan American Open Championship, in the minor categories up to the junior, for the time being scheduled for the month of May.
Martinez said that all this while working on the strategy for the four-year period and already on January 26 begins the tour for each province to know the claims of this sport in the cycle.
"Despite the fact that a complicated period is foreseen, we will work to achieve a representation in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. There is still a long way to go, but we are confident that we can be in the competitive scenarios and do our best, with a totally renewed generation, but also with talent," he said.
