Yasmani Acosta Fernández (born 16 July 1988) is a Chilean-Cuban Greco-Roman wrestler competing in the 130-kilogram weight class. He won a silver medal in the men's 130 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, and a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships. He has also won gold medals at the 2024 Pan American Wrestling Championships, the 2018 and 2022 South American Games, and the 2022 Bolivarian Games, as well as bronze medals at the 2019 and 2023 Pan American Games and a silver medal at the 2017 Pan American Wrestling Championships. He finished fifth at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Born in Agramonte, Cuba, Acosta began his career representing Cuba, winning the 2011 Pan American Games title and a bronze medal at the 2015 edition held in Santiago, Chile, where he defected from the Cuban delegation and remained in the country. He was granted Chilean citizenship in 2018 and has competed internationally for Chile since 2017.
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. After competing at the 2015 Pan American Championships in Santiago, Chile, Acosta never returned to Cuba, stating that, since three–time Olympic Champion Mijaín López was always the wrestler who represented Cuba at the biggest tournaments in his weight class, he would have more opportunities if he represented Chile. However, Acosta was not able to represent Chile, as he did not have Cuba's permission. As a result, Acosta worked as a security guard for two years without training of any kind while trying to get permission. When he got consent in 2017, he started competing internationally again, residing in the Chilean Olympic Center.
He quickly saw results during his first year officially competing for Chile, earning a silver medal from the Pan American Championships and a bronze medal from the World Championships. In 2018, Acosta was granted Chilean citizenship. During the year, he went on to win a bronze medal at the Pan American Championships, a gold medal at the South American Games, and placed eighth at the World Championships. In 2019 he earned a bronze at the Pan American Championships and competed at multiple Grand Prix around Europe. In 2020, he won the Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament and earned a spot at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He competed in the men's 130 kg event.
He won one of the bronze medals in his event at the 2022 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Acapulco, Mexico. He won the gold medal in his event at the 2022 Bolivarian Games held in Valledupar, Colombia. He competed in the 130kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. He won the gold medal in his event at the 2022 South American Games held in Asunción, Paraguay.
He won the gold medal in his event at the 2024 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Acapulco, Mexico. A few days later, at the Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Acapulco, Mexico, he earned a quota place for Chile for the 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France. At the 2024 Olympic Games, he won a silver medal in the 130 kg Greco-Roman final, where he faced Cuba's Mijaín López.
Achievements
YearTournamentLocationResultEvent2010Wrestling World Cup Yerevan, Armenia 5thGreco-Roman 120 kg2011Wrestling World Cup Minsk, Bielorussia 8thGreco-Roman 120 kg2011Pan American Wrestling Championships Rionegro, Colombia 1stGreco-Roman 120 kg2015Pan American Wrestling Championships Santiago, Chile 3rdGreco-Roman 130 kg2017Pan American Wrestling Championships Lauro de Freitas, Brazil 2ndGreco-Roman 130 kg2017World Wrestling Championships Paris, France 3rdGreco-Roman 130 kg2018Pan American Wrestling Championships Lima, Perú 3rdGreco-Roman 130 kg2018South American Games Cochabamba, Bolivia 1stGreco-Roman 130 kg2018World Wrestling Championships Budapest, Hungary 8thGreco-Roman 130 kg2019Pan American Games Lima, Perú 3rdGreco-Roman 130 kg2019World Wrestling Championships Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan 12thGreco-Roman 130 kg2020Pan American Wrestling Championships Ottawa, Canada 8thGreco-Roman 130 kg2020Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Ottawa, Canada 1stGreco-Roman 130 kg2020Individual World Cup Belgrade, Serbia 7thGreco-Roman 130 kg2021Henri Deglane Challenge Nice, France 1stGreco-Roman 130 kg2021Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series Rome, Italy 5thGreco-Roman 130 kg2022Pan American Wrestling Championships Acapulco, Mexico 3rdGreco-Roman 130 kg2022Bolivarian Games Valledupar, Colombia 1stGreco-Roman 130 kg2022South American Games Asunción, Paraguay 1stGreco-Roman 130 kg2024Olympic Games Paris, France 2ndGreco-Roman 130kg
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