Editing Defection (section)

===Athletes===
{{See also|List of baseball players who defected from Cuba}}
* [[Guillermo Rigondeaux]], Cuban [[professional boxer]], who defected to the United States in 2009.
* [[Aroldis Chapman]], Cuban [[baseball pitcher]], who defected to Andorra in 2009 before signing a [[Major League Baseball]] contract in 2010.
* [[Ernst Degner]], East German [[Motorcycle racer]], who defected to West Germany in 1961
* [[José Fernández (right-handed pitcher)|José Fernández]], Cuban [[baseball player]], who defected to the United States in 2008.
* [[Lutz Eigendorf]], an East German [[football player]] for [[BFC Dynamo]] who defected to [[West Germany]] in 1979. 
* [[Orlando Hernandez]], Cuban [[baseball pitcher]], who defected to the United States in 1997.
* [[Nadia Comăneci]], Romanian Olympic gymnast, who defected to the United States in 1989. 
* [[Martina Navratilova]], Czechoslovak tennis player, who defected to the United States in 1975.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tignor |first1=Steve |title=1975: Martina Navratilova defects to U.S. while playing the U.S. Open |url=https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/1975-martina-navratilova-defects-to-u-s-while-playing-the-u-s-open |access-date=June 10, 2024 |work=Tennis.com |date=May 7, 2015}}</ref>
* [[Alexander Mogilny]], Soviet (Russian) [[ice hockey]] forward, who defected to the United States in 1988. He was the first Soviet player to defect to play in the [[NHL]].
* [[Béla Károlyi]] and his wife [[Márta Károlyi]], [[Romania]]n [[gymnastics]] coaches (of [[Nadia Comăneci]] and [[Mary Lou Retton]] among others), who defected to the United States in 1981.
* [[Osvaldo Alonso]], Cuban [[soccer player]], who defected to the United States in 2007.
* [[José Abreu (first baseman)|José Abreu]], Cuban baseball player, who defected to the United States in 2013.
* [[Kimia Alizadeh]], Iranian [[Taekwondo|taekwondo martial artist]], who defected to the Netherlands in 2020.
* [[César Prieto]], Cuban baseball player, who defected to the United States in 2021.
* [[Krystsina Tsimanouskaya]], Belarus sprinter, who defected to Poland in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/tokyo-olympics-belarus-krystina-timanovskaya-poland-b1895194.html|title=The plight of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya shows what a pariah Belarus now is &#124; Mary Dejevsky|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=2 August 2021}}</ref>