One of the four Cuban women who won gold medals at last week's Pan American Judo Championships in Miami left the contingent sometime Sunday afternoon, according to Team USA President Jose Rodriguez.
Yurisel Laborde, a gold-medal winner at the Pan American Championships and a gold-medal favorite in the Beijing Olympics this summer, left the Cuban delegation and her whereabouts were not publicly known, according to a judo official.
It's unclear if she will rejoin teammates who are scheduled to fly back to Havana Monday afternoon.
The departure of the athlete caused a swirl of speculation about her intentions -- especially after the visiting Cuban team had performed so well during the competition that had been targeted by angry Cuban Americans who protested the presence of Cuban athletes.
The judo official said Laborde, 28, packed her bags and left a note for her teammates explaining her actions. The source would not say what her intentions were, but noted that the athlete had until 2 p.m. Monday -- when Team Cuba is scheduled to fly home to Havana -- to rejoin the team.
Laborde was one of four women who won gold medals for Cuba during the week. The others were Driulis González, Idalis Ortíz and Yanet Bermoy. Ortíz competed in Sunday's activities and Bermoy was seen at the James L. Knight Center Sunday afternoon as well, taking in the action but not competing. Laborde and González were not seen Sunday at the tournament.
''We have a specific protocol for who we contact and how we go about it in these situations,'' said Rodriguez, flanked by a member of USA Judo's security team. USA Judo organized the tournament, and was responsible for security.
Rodriguez added that he had contacted a government agency, but declined to say which one.
Reached at home Sunday night, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection -- a Homeland Security agency -- said he was not aware of the situation.
''Until someone comes forward we can't do anything,'' said Zachary Mann. ``There's no set precedent for when someone defects. They may come forward right away, they may have family or friends.''
Several calls and a visit to area Catholic churches, a traditional first-stop for Cuban defectors, yielded no results.
It has been more than 40 years since Cuba sent an Olympic team of any sort to Miami. The week was largely uneventful, with only a small protest last week.
On March 14, seven members of the Cuban national soccer team defected following a match in Tampa.
