Diorges Escobar to Miss World Gymnastics Championship Due to Injury

Cuban artistic gymnastics will have no representatives at the 2026 World Championships in Rotterdam, scheduled for October 17–25 in the Netherlands, after Sancti Spíritus native Diorges Escobar was forced to withdraw due to a shoulder injury.

The news was announced to JIT by Pedro Pablo Barrios, national commissioner of the discipline, and was later confirmed by the gymnast himself on the Gimnasia Latina Instagram page.

The injury prevents him from competing in what was set to be his first major stop in the new Olympic cycle leading to Los Angeles 2028.

The gymnast had recently won a bronze medal on the parallel bars at the Pan American Championship in Rio de Janeiro with a score of 13.700, and was slated to measure himself against the world elite in the all-around event.

Meanwhile, Camagüey native Keyla Leyva, the other Cuban athlete qualified for the world meet, will not attend due to budget constraints.

The world championship is considered one of the most prominent events on the international artistic gymnastics calendar.

In Rotterdam, the only Olympic berths for Los Angeles 2028 to be awarded will go to the top three team podium finishers in each branch.

The distribution of individual spots for the all-around event will not begin until the 2027 World Championship in Chengdu, where tickets will be awarded to the top eight men and top 14 women on the eligible list, capped at one spot per country.