HAVANA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- A team of six ladies will seek Olympic tickets for Cuba in free-style wrestling at an upcoming qualifying tournament, the official sports site "Jit" disclosed on Friday.
The continental qualifying tournament will take place in the U.S. city of Frisco, Texas, from March 4th to 6th,
Cuba's team will be headed by Katerina Videaux, the Pan American champion in Guadalajara 2011 in 63 kilograms category. Videaux ended in eighth position at the last Olympic Games in London 2012.
Besides Videaux, the Caribbean island's other big hope for a podium finish is Lisset Echevarria (75 kg), the Centro-American queen in Cartagena de Indias 2006; followed by Jacqueline Estornell (58 kg), the continental champion in Panama 2013 and silver medalist at the Pan American Games Toronto 2015.
The final three members of the team will be Yudarys Sanchez (69 kg), Pan-American gold medalist in Santiago de Chile 2015; and Yusnelis Guzman (48kg), Centro-American runner-up in Veracruz 2014, and the newcomer Lienna Montero (53kg).
So far Cuban wrestling has only two positions secured for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016. These two tickets are in the Greco-Roman style category where two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion, Mijain Lopez (130 kg); and Ismael Borrero, (59 kg) will be competing.
Until now, 58 Cuban athletes from nine disciplines have qualified for the Olympic Games 2016.
The figure of 42 men and 16 women could increase in the coming months as there are still 268 athletes from 10 disciplines, who still have to attend different qualifying events, High Performance Director at the National Sports Institute (INDER), Jose Miranda, told reporters on Wednesday.