Taekwondo delegation will seek to leave the tricolor at the top in Central American and Caribbean events in 2026

Published at: 17/07/2026 10:01 AM

The Venezuelan taekwondo team is about to compete in the 25th Santo Domingo 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games, which will take place from July 25 to 28 at the Combat Pavilion No. 2 of the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center.

Venezuela will be represented by a total of 16 athletes, 9 women and 7 men, who will compete in the individual combat events (kyorugi) and the team modality (TK4), according to a press release from the Ministry of People's Power for Sports.

The Venezuelan team is traveling with the firm objective of exceeding the performance obtained in the San Salvador 2023 edition, where it won four bronze medals.

In the men's individual combat section, the team is led by Yohandri Granados (-63 kg), bronze medal in the San Salvador 2023 edition, in the 58 kg division, Olympic diploma at the 2024 Paris Games and gold medal at the Open de Santo Domingo 2026.

This roster is joined by Luis Álvarez (-87 kg), bronze in the 2026 Pan American Championship and triple Bolivarian champion. He also participated in the last two editions of the regional event: Barranquilla 2018 and San Salvador 2023, where he won the bronze medal.

Granados and Álvarez are candidates to carry the national standard at the inauguration ceremony of the Central Americans.

Juan Grimaldo (-54 kg), Joel Díaz (-58 kg) and Jeshuath Pedraza (-68 kg) close the list of players called up in individual combat, while Iván Hernández and Moisés Sosa will compete in the TK4 event.

For her part, the women's division is led by Virginia Dellan (-46 kg), who will attend the regional event for the third time in a row after her debut in Veracruz 2014, where she won the bronze medal, repeated that same achievement in Barranquilla 2018 and in San Salvador 2023.

Alexmar Sulbarán (-62 kg) and Carolina Fernández (-73 kg) join the team, who will also participate for the third time in the multi-sport event since both debuted with bronze medals in Barranquilla 2018.

The list of women's singles players is completed by María González (+73 kg), Juliannys Pedraza (-49 kg), Noris Borges (-53 kg) and Hillary Clemente (-67 kg).

In the TK4 category, the women's squad will be led by Naholi Bastidas and Naylis Ascanio.

The competition will bring together a total of 164 athletes (82 women and 82 men) who are among the best exponents of the specialty in the entire region.

Mazo News Team