Yorgelis Salazar won the gold medal in the -50 kg category at the Central American Games

Published at: 06/08/2026 11:10 AM

The Venezuelan karate player Yorgelis Salazar won her first gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games Santo Domingo with an almost perfect performance in the -50 kg category, in which she only allowed two points in the four fights played to reach the top.

In her first presentation about the Cuban Lianerkis Chacón, the Venezuelan won three ippons to sentence the fight to a 9-0 advantage. He then found brief resistance in Salvadoran Josy Tinoco, who managed to score two points through a yuko to bring the score closer to 4-2, but that was all the damage he managed to do, because Salazar took out his entire technical repertoire to score four ippon and one waza-ari that gave him an undisputed victory of 10 to 2.

Then it was the turn to beat Trinidadian Chelsea Mohan, who didn't find a way to contain Salazar's strength and precision. Once again, the Venezuelan did not need to consume the three minutes of the fight, thanks to two ippons and a pair of Yuko to make an 8-0 difference to achieve her third conquest with 36 seconds left.

In the decisive match, Salazar swept 9-0 against Dominican Nayelis Guzmán in just two minutes.

“When I envisioned this moment of winning the gold medal, the most difficult thing was this feeling of listening to the National Anthem for our brothers in La Guaira and all Venezuelans. But in the midst of tears is a moment that I will remember. This time I fought with all my heart and with a lot of emotions inside. Preparing was not easy, raising our heads after everything that happened in the country and with this medal we bring a spark of hope to every Venezuelan,” reflected the champion.

For Salazar, it was his first gold in the CAC Games and the second gold in the quadrennial cycle, after winning the Bolivarian Games of Ayacucho-Lima 2025.

Mazo News Team