Lucía Yépez wins silver at Wrestling World Championships

Ecuadorian wrestler Lucía Yépez secured the silver medal in the 53 kilogram category at the 2026 Wrestling World Championships held in Astana, Kazakhstan. Yépez reached the final after consecutive victories against Sakibjamal Esbosynova of Uzbekistan, Andreea Beatrice Ana of Romania, and Cristelle Noelle Rodríguez of the United States.

In the final match held on October 29, Yépez lost to Japan’s Moe Kiyooka with a score of 6-0. This result follows Yépez’s previous achievement as a silver medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The silver medal marks a significant step toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. According to United World Wrestling, the 2027 World Championships in Las Vegas, United States, will be the first event in the current cycle to award direct Olympic qualification quotas. Under the current regulations, the top four medalists in each of the 18 Olympic categories, including both third-place finishers, will earn quotas for their respective national Olympic committees.