The 2008 Olympics in Beijing have been a source of pride for the nation and proven to be a historic showing for some of the best athletes to recently don USA uniforms. Securing their place in history are one Michael Phelps– the most decorated Olympian to date — and the men’s swimming team he represents. And then there’s the story of the women’s rowing team first gold since 1984, and not to forget the women’s gymnastics team gold for Shawn Johnson and teammate Nastia Liukin securing silver, both on the beam event which is a first for the nation.
But one singular story caught the attention of Wednesday’s El Nuevo Herald
after the gold won a cover story for Henry Cejudo, the US wrestling champ born to undocumented Mexican immigrants. Cejudo proudly pronounced his medal to belong ’half to Mexico and half to the US’, due to the strong affinity to his family’s culture and roots. Cejudo is from Los Angeles, the nation’s #1 Hispanic market. His story has been picked up by many publications and Google shows more than 400 results to his name. His rise to fame and the medal did not come easy. Raised as one of four siblings, his family struggled to make ends meet and moved around quite a bit as he was growing up. The 21-year old now has secured his name and family’s history in the books.
Along Cejudo, other U.S. Hispanics also are representing the US at the games. Dara Torres’ stellar performance as the oldest swimmer to score a medal, the taekwondo team includes the Los Lopez siblings– 3 brothers and a sister with roots in Nicaragua that made history as the first sibling team to compete since the early 1900s and Stephen Lopez is a contender for gold. Then there’s Michael Orozco is soccer, distance runners Leonel Manzano and Jorge Torres, many in the boxing team, and others I may not have been able to identify.
But news reports say that there are not enough Hispanics in the US team, in all about 4% of the 600 member team based on a AP estimate. And while that may be true, kudos to the ones who earned a spot and Cejudo– enjoy your medal for many years to come!
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