Yakelín Estornell: the Olympic hopeful carrying the weight of Cuban women's boxing history in her gloves
Yakelín Estornell was born in Guantánamo, Cuba 38 years ago and is the only female boxer from the nation competing at the final qualifier for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, which takes place in Bangkok, Thailand from 24 May to 2 June.
Even though Cuba competing in a boxing tournament is far from unusual, particularly when you consider that the nation is one of the most successful in Olympic boxing history, in reality, this is a historic moment.
In December 2022, Estornell was a wrestling trainer in Guantánamo. It was at that time that women were officially given permission to practice boxing in Cuba. The news changed her life or, to put it another way, allowed her to find a new one.
In January 2023, the national school of boxing in Cuba opened its doors to women and, in less than 12 months, three of the dozen boxers who make up the elite team participated in the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
This was the first qualifier in history in which Cuba's female boxers could obtain a quota for the Olympic Games. None of the three achieved their goal in Chile nor at the first World Qualification Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy in March.
Now there is just one opportunity left, at the Second World Qualification Tournament in Thailand, and only one boxer from Cuba can take it: Yakelín Estornell.
“To qualify for the Olympics would be a source of pride for the people of Cuba, it would be the first time that a female boxer qualified for the Olympic Games,” Estornell, who fights in the -66kg category, told Olympics.com.
Estornell is the personification of a common dream for Cuba’s women’s boxers: “Las Marianas of Boxing”, as they are known, in honour of Mariana Grajales, who is considered the Mother of the Nation and a symbol of Cuban women after she devoted her life to the fight for Cuban independence in the 19th century.
“The Cuban woman is very strong and knows how to impose herself," Estornell told us. "I also try to give the best of myself and it is a source of pride for a Cuban woman to compete in every sport, particularly in women’s boxing, which is a new sport. It makes me proud to be a representative of women’s boxing and women in general.”
Yakelín Estornell, from wrestling to boxing
In her ‘previous life’ Estornell was a wrestler who won silver at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. When she retired, her connection with the sport continued as she took on the role of a trainer at a sports school in Guantánamo.
When the authorities gave official permission for women to practice boxing in Cuba, they wanted the first sportswomen who joined the team to come from other sports, in order to help with their adaptation to the challenging regime.
It meant Estornell had the perfect resume to join the adventure and with it, become a pioneer.
“I think wrestling helped me a little because of how much it pushed me and, with respect to my physical preparation, I feel good,” explained Estornell.
Yakelín Estornell: the mother of another fighter
The 38 years of Estornell have not only brought life to an athlete in two sports, something most could never achieve, but also to something even more important to her: her 14-year-old son, Alexei, who practices the sport of wrestling in the sports school in Guantánamo.
“I told him he didn’t have to be a wrestler. He said, ‘Mum, I want to. I want to follow your example and be a wrestler as well’,” remembered Estornell.
Since she started practising her new sport, Estornell has spent a lot of time away from her son, as the Cuban national boxing school, which is shared by the young male boxers and the women’s boxing team, is based in Havana, behind the Panamerican Stadium for athletics.
Estornell and Alexei are separated by 900 kilometres and it is only due to the help of her family that she made the decision to begin her second life as an athlete.
“They always help me. Right now, he is with his father, and the family help me with everything,” she said.
Nonetheless, and despite the distance, the love she and her son share, with each other and for their sport, keeps them united.
“I think Alexei will win Olympic medals. His mother is a brave woman and has come out in front. I’m proud of him,” Estorell said of her son.
The inspiration of Julio César la Cruz and Arlen López
Even though the Cuban women’s national team have only been training for 18 months, the tradition of Cuban boxing at the Olympic Games has been written in gold.
At Paris 2024, which starts 26 July, two Cubans could enter a select group of boxers who have won three Olympic golds: Julio César la Cruz and Arlen López.
“Boxing is the flagship sport of Cuba. I follow the men closely, such as Julio César and Arlen López, who are Olympic champions, world champions… and every time we have the opportunity to be with them, I always try to be at their side.
"I look at them and try to do almost everything they do in training to know how to recover in competitions and to achieve my goal. These Olympic and world champions that we have beside us are an inspiration for us. I admire them a lot.
“Julio also helps me in training and that’s good for us and for me personally, to improve my technique,” explained Estornell.
But it’s not all about technique. When you are starting a new sport, you also need something extra.
“Julio always tells me, ‘Come on, you can do it. You have the strength, you can’t get tired in a fight.’ He helps me a lot, he supports me,” she continued.
(L-R) Yakelín Estornell, Legnis Calá and Arianne Imbert, the only Cuban women boxers that competed at the PanAmerican Games 2023.
Yakelín Estornell: a pioneer of social change
Women’s boxing in Cuba is no longer something foreign to the wider community, particularly after the team won their first medals (with Estornell, Legnis Calá and Arianne Imbert all reaching the podium at the 2023 ALBA Games – a multi-sport, multi-nation event organised by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas) and the completion of the first women’s boxing competitions in Cuba, such as the national championships in 2023.
“My teammates, people in the street, and some local workers say to me, 'I watched you fight and you’re very strong. I like your way of fighting and the effort you put in.’ This gives me a lot of pride,” she reflected.
Estornell trains in the School of El Cardin, where they don’t have running water and conditions are limited. Neither this nor the short amount of time she has been training has broken her dream of competing in Olympic boxing.
This is what defines her, but she knows her mission goes far beyond the power inside her gloves.
“I am looking for victory in the fights and also to raise up the name of Cuba, as well as the name of the Cuban woman,” said Estornell.
That she now personifies Cuban women’s boxing cannot be disputed. When she walks into the ring in Thailand she will be representing every woman in Cuba.
And, whatever happens in Bangkok, the most positive thing is that social change has begun and will not stop, that there is a future for “The Marianas” of Cuban boxing.
"In the future, Cuba will have female boxers who will compete at the Olympics and at the Worlds," Estornell concluded.
And she wants to be the first.