At 7 years old, Elizabeth Suarez might be a bit young to understand how judo works, but she knew who to cheer for on Sunday: ``Cuba, 'cause they're the best.''
Elizabeth lives with her mother, Damaris, in Little Havana. They moved to Miami four years ago from Cuba, but they remain fans of the powerhouse judo team. Elizabeth had just finished having her picture taken with Team Cuba.
''Well, I was kind of shy,'' she said.
Dozens of Cuba fans like Elizabeth came out for the final day of the Pan American Championships at the James L. Knight Center.
During a match between Cuba's Jorge Benavidez and Team USA's Garry St. Leger in the men's 90-kilogram division, those fans filled the auditorium with chants of ''CU-BA! CU-BA!'' Benavidez won the fight by ippon, a match-ending slam, to the delight of the crowd.
Thirteen countries from Central and North America continued Olympic qualifying during the Zones round.
The day's competition was an odd mix of players with nothing to gain and everything to lose.
Ronda Rousey, Team USA's top female, was winning against Canadian Catherine Roberge when Roberge was disqualified for an ''unsportsmanlike hand gesture.'' The call prompted a shout of ''That is just disgraceful!'' from Roberge's sideline coach, Ewan Beaton.
Afterward, a calmer Beaton explained that ``[Roberge] was probably going to lose that match anyway, but they should let the players play. Let her lose it.''
Roberge was in contention for a possible Olympic spot before the match.
Conversely, Rousey later won in a walk-over when Cuba's Yagnelis Castillo chose not to fight. For Castillo, the match was all but meaningless -- she already had clinched a spot in Beijing.
''You see a lot of that in zones,'' Rousey said. ``I had also already wrapped up my division, so it didn't really matter, but I wanted to do better this week.''
On Thursday, Rousey had lost to Castillo in a tightly contested match that was decided on penalties in Golden Score, the judo version of overtime.
The U.S. was among the biggest winners in Zones, qualifying at least 10 judokas for the Summer Games in Beijing. The divisions in which Team USA is qualified include women's 48 kilograms, 57 kilograms and 70 kilograms and men's 60 kilograms, 66 kilograms, 73 kilograms, 81 kilograms, 90 kilograms, 100 kilograms and 100-plus kilograms.
Judoka Anthony Turner of Miami rebounded from a disappointing medal round on Thursday to win three Zone matches in a row, earning an Olympic berth for his 100-plus kilogram class.
Taraje Williams-Murray (60 kilograms) threw Cuba's Yosmani Piker for the second time in the tournament and earned a spot as well.
