The Cuban judoka Maricet Espinosa González has died at the age of 34, as announced this Monday on Facebook by the Manuel Fajardo Cuban Sports University and the Cuban Diary. The Olympic athlete, nicknamed ‘The Mole’ and mother of a 2 year old girldied due to a heart attack after undergoing cosmetic surgery, according to Cuban media.
“Cuban judo is in mourning. Maricet Espinosa González passed away. With great pain, the Cuban university sports community receives the news of the death of the outstanding Cuban judoka. At only 34 years old, he went to eternity La mole“, announced the educational institution.
The Pan American Judo Confederation of Cuba also joined in condolences for the death of the Olympic judoka. “It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to a legend of Pan-American and Cuban judo. Maricet Espinosa, affectionately known as La Mole, leaves an indelible legacy. Rest in peace, dear Maricet. Our condolences to her family and to Cuban judo. Your spirit and your achievements will always last“, they wrote on their Instagram account.
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Both social networks and different personalities from culture and sports have mourned the death of Espinosa. “Santos Suárez is in mourning. Maricet Espinosa, an excellent Cuban judoka in the 63 kilogram category, passed away unexpectedly on January 21. May God bless her. We lost a sister. I love you, my black woman. “Take care of your loved ones from heaven,” said the Cuban singer. Alejandro Santoya, known as El Yonki, via Instagram.
Maricet Espinosa González was born in 1990 in Arroyo Naranjo, a municipality located in the province of Havana. The athlete was a leader in judo in her native country. She achieved three medals at the Pan American Judo Championships: two golds (2013, 2014) and one silver (2016), within the 63 kilogram category.
Maricet Espinosa at the Pan American Judo Championships. Facebook Cuban Sports University
Furthermore, the judoka participated in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. However, after her maiden victory against Nepal’s Phupu Lhamu Khatri, she lost in the second round against Israel’s Yarden Gerbi. In 2017, Espinosa announced her retirement from the sport.
According to information collected by the magazine Cubalite, the Pan American champion was not in Cuba at the time of her death. For this reason, family and friends of the athlete have started a social media campaign to raise funds in order to be able to repatriate his body to Havana, place of his birth.
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Yudeysi Batte, a friend of the deceased, has opened an account on a digital platform to try to raise 15,000 dollars (about 13,700 euros). “There is a 2-year-old girl who was left without a mother and her relatives do not have enough funds to send her body to her country,” she says.
According to the magazine Cubalite and different local media, the medalist had undergone a procedure days before her death cosmetic breast augmentation surgery. As a source close to the athlete assured the aforementioned Cuban media, this operation would have influenced her death, caused by a heart attack.
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