Attention South Florida! Have you seen this. um, woman? She is Yurisel Laborde, one of the top female judokas in the world. She’s also Cuban and in Florida, so that can only mean one thing. Yup, like so many before her, she’s gone missing and presumed attempting to defect. She was part of the Cuban contingent participating in last week’s Pan-Am games, which really must suck. Not that they lost her—that’s a given—but that they lost her during the Pan-Am games. That’s like losing your girlfriend to a guy wearing Z. Cavariccis.

A source Monday morning said Laborde, who was considered a gold-medal favorite for the Beijing Olympics this summer, will be seeking political asylum.

Well, duh…

Cuban judo president Gustavo Diez would not comment on the possible defection but called his team’s visit to Miami a ”success.” Diez added that the ”situation” should not take away from what the other members of the team accomplished.

Reached at home Sunday night, Zachary Mann, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said he was not aware of the situation. “Until someone comes forward, we can’t do anything,” Mann said. “There’s no set precedent for when someone defects.”

Really? Because, you know, they’ve only had about nine thousand defects before to get that memo down and passed around.

Earlier: Cuban Soccer Defectors Find Life In USA A-OK

Cuban judo team leaves without one athlete [Miami Herald]
Image [Miami Herald]