Cuban taekwondo athlete Anaisel León delivered a remarkable comeback in the final to win the women's 67-kilogram gold medal at the 25th Central American and Caribbean Games Santo Domingo 2026.

Competing at the Taekwondo Pavilion inside the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center in the Dominican capital, the native of the western Cuban province of Pinar del Río faced tournament favorite Leslie Soltero of Mexico in the championship bout.

The young Cuban athlete, who earned an epic bronze medal at the Asunción 2025 Junior Pan American Games, dropped the opening round 4-2. She responded with a dominant 6-0 victory in the second round before securing the decisive third round 10-7 to complete the comeback and celebrate the biggest victory of her career.

León opened her campaign in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory (3-0, 2-0) over Venezuela's Hillary Clemente. She then advanced with confidence through the semifinals after defeating Colombia's Laura Ramírez 2-0, winning both rounds by identical 4-2 scores.

Earlier in the women's 57-kilogram division, her Cuban teammate Tamara Robles fell in the gold medal match to Costa Rica's Nishy Lindo.

More than 6,000 athletes from 37 countries will compete through August 8 in one of the continent's most important multi-sport events, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.