November came to an end as a Cuban judoka was crowned at the Under-23 European Championship with the Spanish flag on her chest.

Ayumi Leiva has dozens of reasons to feel proud of this title after, in August 2022, at just 19 years old, she fled a Cuban sports delegation at Madrid airport and sought asylum from the passport control police.

Leiva told the sports newspaper Marca that, although she was the top athlete in the 48 kg category in women’s judo that year, she knew she had no future, and the only thing keeping her on the island was her mother.

“In Cuba, there was no future, but I didn’t want to leave my mother alone. I talked it over with her, and she gave me her blessing. She told me to move forward, that I’d be able to help her more from Spain,” Leiva said.

Leiva longed to win and step onto a podium for her country, but seeing no opportunities on the island, she took the leap into the unknown.

“The coaches mistreated us, humiliated us a lot. If we got injured, we had to keep training. I couldn’t take it anymore (…), I didn’t see a future; I couldn’t stand the humiliation any longer. They threatened us, saying if we spoke up, we’d be kicked out,” she explained.

Two years later, as part of the Spanish under-23 judo team, Leiva recalled her dream of standing on a podium. To the backdrop of the Spanish anthem, as a continental champion in her category, she broke into tears.

On her Facebook profile, she was straightforward: “Super proud of myself and the things I’m building little by little. I didn’t know what it felt like to hear your country’s anthem and appreciate it from the top of the podium.”

For her, December began as November ended, with another gold medal around her neck and a crown from the Spanish Championship.

This eternal habit many Cuban athletes have of making the directors or coaches who banished them look bad—and forced them to rebuild their lives far from home—continues. Right there in Spain, there are more examples of Cuban athletes who have embarrassed island officials and are now Olympic champions, while Cuban sports steadily decline worldwide.

Triple jumper Jordan Díaz is perhaps the most significant example after winning the Olympic title in Paris this summer, as well as the European crown in his discipline. But on the podium in the French capital, two other Cubans stood tall, one representing Italy and another Portugal.

Díaz isn’t stopping and has already set his sights on Los Angeles 2028, though he acknowledged to Europa Press that “a lot can happen in four years.”

“It was a dream season. I’ve fulfilled my dream of becoming an Olympic champion. I’m already at the top in sports, but I want to keep going. I want to continue representing Spain, reaching the top of the podium, and making history,” said the Spanish Olympic champion born in Havana.

Díaz is another athlete who fled the island as soon as he had the chance. Even though he hasn’t seen his family for years, he’s clear about his decision: “I would desert Cuba ten more times,” he told the newspaper El Confidencial.

Like him, there are more success stories in Spain, as well as in the United States, Poland, Turkey, and Azerbaijan.

And what does the island have left? Only a few historical figures who secured a somewhat dignified old age in material terms, though it won’t last forever—as we know from former sports glories now living in misery.

Two months ago, social media users were asked to help former Cuban baseball team manager Alfonso Urquiola, who was dealing with a “complex situation” involving his car—a Lada with more than 25 years of use.

Not long before that, former referee and journalist Ramon Rodriguez denounced the neglect of Cuban sports authorities toward Margarita Skeet Quiñones, a 74-year-old Pan American basketball champion. Skeet, now blind, survives in her modest Havana home thanks to help from neighbors and friends.

Little by little, and thanks to social media, young people see themselves in these mirrors and don’t think twice about escaping—regardless of the destination—when they step into a foreign airport. And for Cuban pride, from exile, they forge their paths and triumph with the healthy habit of making those that tried to hold them back look bad.

This article was translated into English from the original in Spanish.