Multi-talented Oscar Pino is a Cuban Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestler who has represented his country at some of the highest possible levels. The ultimate peak will be reached when he wrestles for Cuba at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. In Greco-Roman wrestling, Pino’s major successes have been in the Pan American Championships, where was gold medallist three times in a row, between 2016 and 2018. He is also currently enjoying a three-year run on the podium of the World Championships, having won one silver and two bronzes since 2017. As a freestyle wrestler, Pino has won medals at the Pan American Games and Pan American Wrestling Championships.

Both Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling have been contested at the Olympics for over 100 years. They are very different disciplines, with Greco-Roman forbidding the use of the legs in attack or defence. The vast majority of wrestlers dedicate themselves to one, and even then don’t always achieve success. For Pino to have competed and won medals at major world tournaments in both types of wrestling is an incredible achievement.

Before coronavirus put a stop to almost all sporting activity, Pino had got 2020 off to a characteristically winning start, taking bronze at the Pan American Championships in Ottawa. At what will now be the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he will only compete as a Greco-Roman wrestler in the 130kg class, the heaviest category. The Olympics is one event Pino has never competed in, so he will be hoping to conquer it the way he has conquered so many other tournaments.