Cuban Olympic canoe champion escapes in Mexico

The first Olympic canoeing champion in history in Cuba, Fernando Dayán Jorge, has defected in Mexico.

According to a statement released by the island’s sports authorities, Dayán Jorge, 23, who won gold in Tokyo, left the Cuban delegation as they were leaving for a training session.

The note did not specify where in Mexico the athlete decided to escape.

Seven months ago in Tokyo, Dayán Jorge together with Serguey Torres had made history in breaking an Olympic record in the C2 canoeing event and garnering the first gold in the Olympic history for Cuba while defeating China and Germany.

Their performance led to both rowers being named among the 10 best Cuban athletes of 2021.

But since last weekend Dayán Jorge went from “hero” to “villain”.

The unexpected escape was described as a “serious indiscipline” by the National Canoeing Commission, a moderate term compared to the one traditionally used in the days of Fidel Castro when the term “traitor” was more frequently used.

Dayán Jorge was once considered one of Cuba’s ‘golden child’ to compete in the Paris 2024 and LA28 Olympic Games.

The defection of the canoeist comes at a time when another countryman and fellow Olympian, Jordan Díaz, 20, received Spanish citizenship on February 2 - seven months of requesting political asylum in Madrid.

To date there are no public complaints from the island’s sports authorities due to the “express citizenship” of Díaz, who two weeks ago set a new record for Spain in the triple jump.

Cuban officials consider the escape of Jorge will set back their canoeing team to “years of intense work” and see him as “turning his back” on his commitment to the Cuban public.

Mexico is a recurring springboard for Cuban athletes to enter the United States, especially for baseball players and boxers.

Last October, half of the Cuban baseball team, 12 players in total, who had participated in the U-23 world championships, deserted on Mexican soil. In the weeks that followed, almost all of them crossed the border to the United States.

Prior to the baseball team defection, the most recent case of defections of an Olympic champion was in July 2018, when boxer Robeisy Ramírez, gold medalist in London and Rio escaped from a team rally in the Mexican city of Aguascalientes.

The first Olympic champion of an individual sport, who walked away from their Cuban delegation was gold medal in Barcelona 1992 boxer Joel Casamayor who escaped in Mexico while preparing for the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Casamayor went on to become professional champion in the US.

According to the most recent reports from the US authorities, the ‘irregular’ arrivals of Cubans through the southern border of the United States rose to a record number of 9,714 during last January. Those that flow through Mexican border points rose to 30,190 Cubans in the first four months of fiscal year 2022.

The whereabouts of Olympic champion Fernando Dayán Jorge are still unknown.