Yasmani Acosta


Yasmani Acosta Fernández is a naturalized Chilean of Cuban origins who competes in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 130 kg weight class.

Career

Acosta started wrestling in Cuba when he was 10 years old. While representing Cuba, he won multiple medals in South American competitions such as the Pan American Championships and the Cerro Pelado International.
When he competed at the 2015 Pan American Championships in Santiago of Chile, he never returned to Cuba, stating that the three-time Olympic Gold medalist Mijaín López was always the wrestler who represented Cuba at the biggest tournaments in his weight class and he would have way more opportunities if representing Chile. However, Acosta wasn't able to represent Chile neither, as he didn't have permission by Cuba. As a result, he worked as a security guard for 2 years without training while trying to get permission. When he finally got the permission, he started competing internationally again, training and living at the Chilean Olympic Center.
He quickly saw results in his first year officially competing for Chile, earning a silver medal at the Pan American Championships and a bronze medal in the World Championships. In 2018, he won bronze at the Pan American Championships, gold at the South American Championships and placed eight at the World Championships. In 2019 he earned bronze at the Pan American Championships and competed at multiple Grand Prixs around Europe. In 2020, he won the Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament and won a spot to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Major results

YearTournamentLocationResultEvent
2010Wrestling World Cup Yerevan, Armenia5thGreco-Roman 120 kg
2011Wrestling World Cup Minsk, Bielorussia8thGreco-Roman 120 kg
2011Pan American Wrestling Championships Rionegro, Colombia1stGreco-Roman 120 kg
2015Pan American Wrestling Championships Santiago, Chile3rdGreco-Roman 130 kg
2017Pan American Wrestling Championships Lauro de Freitas, Brazil2ndGreco-Roman 130 kg
2017World Wrestling Championships Paris, France3rdGreco-Roman 130 kg
2018Pan American Wrestling Championships Lima, Perú3rdGreco-Roman 130 kg
2018South American Games Cochabamba, Bolivia1stGreco-Roman 130 kg
2018World Wrestling Championships Budapest, Hungary8thGreco-Roman 130 kg
2019Pan American Games Lima, Perú3rdGreco-Roman 130 kg
2019World Wrestling Championships Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan12thGreco-Roman 130 kg
2020Pan American Wrestling Championships Ottawa, Canada8thGreco-Roman 130 kg
2020Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Ottawa, Canada1stGreco-Roman 130 kg