Over the past week and a half our posts on the London Games have focused primarily on athletes from Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, however, we will look at three Mexican-American competitors who have performed admirably for the U.S. (This is why the title to this post uses the popular "USA! USA! USA!" chant with the Spanish language abbreviation).
There is a cliché that says, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Such was the case on Tuesday night for Leo Manzano in the men’s 1500 meters final. As he entered the last turn he was in a distant sixth and it certainly appeared that he wouldn’t reach the podium. But in the final ninety meters the University of Texas graduate surged ahead of four other runners and finished in second place.
Manzano’s silver-medal winning finishing kick at the Olympic Stadium was reminiscent of the following come-from-behind victory at a track meet roughly one year ago in London:
Manzano thus became the first U.S. runner in forty-four years to obtain a medal in the men’s 1500 meters.
He reportedly celebrated after the race by carrying both the flags of Mexico and the U.S.
Boxer Marlen Esparza lost in her semifinal match-up against Chinese pugilist Cancan Ren though she still ended with a bronze medal. Both boxers fought defensively though it appeared that the six-time national champion from Houston landed more punches in the first two rounds. But the judges viewed the fight different and gave Ren a 7-4 advantage. Esparza was more aggressive in the final two rounds against the three-time world champion but in the end she ended up losing by a score of 10-8.
After the bout U.S. head boxing coach Abdullah Basheer criticized the judges scoring while Telemundo commentator Rene Giraldo claimed that the fight was “gifted” to Ren.
Meanwhile a frustrated reportedly “broke down in tears several times after the fight” and told reporters that she “can't be angry about getting any medal at all but (bronze) wasn't my goal.”
Women’s water polo player Brenda Villa has obtained the three Olympics medals but she has never obtained the gold medal. She will be looking to change that tomorrow when the U.S. faces Spain in what will likely be her last time participating in the Olympics.
The thirty-four-year-old veteran who has been with the team since 1996 played a key role in the quarterfinals when she scored twice in a 9-6 win over Italy. She missed a penalty throw in regular time of the semifinal against Australia but she and Maggie Steffens combined for a defensive stop in the final minute of overtime that helped preserve an 11-9 victory.
In a recent Orange County Register article, U.S. coach Adam Krikorian referred to Villa as “the Magic Johnson of water polo.” Such a moniker may refer to her strength in the pool though she also strives out of the water to help improve her community:
Showing posts with label Marlen Esparza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marlen Esparza. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
London Calling: One Hour of Glory
The London Games are shaping up to be one of the most successful Olympics for Latin American athletes. The strongest proof of this occurred on Monday when six competitors from the region won medals all in the short span of one hour.
At the Olympic Stadium, Dominican sprinter Felix Sánchez captured the gold medal in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 47.63 seconds. The 34-year-old runner, who won in the same event in 2004, coincidentally clocked the same time that gave him gold eight years ago in Athens.
“I just wanted to make her proud so I’ve got her name on my spikes,” said Sánchez in dedicating his win to his grandmother who died while he was competing in the Olympics in 2008. As seen in the images in the video below, Sánchez wept openly after running with a picture of his grandmother under his uniform and then while on the medal stand:
Sánchez wasn’t the only Latin American to shine in the men’s 400-meter hurdles finals. Javier Culson won bronze and thus became the first Puerto Rican to achieve an Olympics medal in a sport outside of boxing.
The runner from Ponce was a favorite to win the race and according to The Guardian “in his eyes there were tears as the 28-year-old stared in disbelief” for finishing third. Nevertheless, he received plenty of adulation via Twitter from Boricuas including Gov. Luis Fortuño and Calle 13 musician René “Residente” Pérez.
Minutes after Sánchez and Culson won their respective medals, Cuban wrestler Mijain López successfully defended his gold medal in the men's 120-kg Greco-Roman wrestling. The four-time world champion beat Heiki Nabi of Estonia by scores of 2-0 and 1-0 in order to retain his Olympics title.
“Cuban supporters cheered wildly as Lopez did a lap of honor of the packed arena with his country's flag draped over his shoulders,” according to Reuters on the crowd’s reception to the man who was Cuba’s flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies.
From the wrestling mat we return to the athletics track where Liguelin Santos completed a historic double for the Dominican Republic. The eighteen-year-old became the youngest man to medal in the men’s 400-meter dash after finishing second with a time of 44.46 seconds.
According to ABC Online “world junior champion Santos, the third fastest man this year, was billed as main rival (to eventual gold medal winner Kirani James of Grenada) due to the absence of (defending champion LaShawn) Merritt but he never looked like seriously threatening”. Nevertheless, Santos has a promising career ahead and should be viewed as a favorite to win gold in Rio in 2016.
Nearly sixty minutes after Sánchez won gold, Yarisley Silva of Cuba earned second place in the women’s pole vault.
Silva cleared 4.75m along with Jennifer Suhr of the U.S. but the Cuban was awarded the silver medal since she had missed one more jump than Suhr.
Five medals by five athletes in the space of sixty minutes. Day ten of the 2012 Summer Games was surely one of the most historic and memorable in the history of Latin American sports.
In other notable results from Monday:
At the Olympic Stadium, Dominican sprinter Felix Sánchez captured the gold medal in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 47.63 seconds. The 34-year-old runner, who won in the same event in 2004, coincidentally clocked the same time that gave him gold eight years ago in Athens.
“I just wanted to make her proud so I’ve got her name on my spikes,” said Sánchez in dedicating his win to his grandmother who died while he was competing in the Olympics in 2008. As seen in the images in the video below, Sánchez wept openly after running with a picture of his grandmother under his uniform and then while on the medal stand:
Sánchez wasn’t the only Latin American to shine in the men’s 400-meter hurdles finals. Javier Culson won bronze and thus became the first Puerto Rican to achieve an Olympics medal in a sport outside of boxing.
The runner from Ponce was a favorite to win the race and according to The Guardian “in his eyes there were tears as the 28-year-old stared in disbelief” for finishing third. Nevertheless, he received plenty of adulation via Twitter from Boricuas including Gov. Luis Fortuño and Calle 13 musician René “Residente” Pérez.
Minutes after Sánchez and Culson won their respective medals, Cuban wrestler Mijain López successfully defended his gold medal in the men's 120-kg Greco-Roman wrestling. The four-time world champion beat Heiki Nabi of Estonia by scores of 2-0 and 1-0 in order to retain his Olympics title.
“Cuban supporters cheered wildly as Lopez did a lap of honor of the packed arena with his country's flag draped over his shoulders,” according to Reuters on the crowd’s reception to the man who was Cuba’s flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies.
From the wrestling mat we return to the athletics track where Liguelin Santos completed a historic double for the Dominican Republic. The eighteen-year-old became the youngest man to medal in the men’s 400-meter dash after finishing second with a time of 44.46 seconds.
According to ABC Online “world junior champion Santos, the third fastest man this year, was billed as main rival (to eventual gold medal winner Kirani James of Grenada) due to the absence of (defending champion LaShawn) Merritt but he never looked like seriously threatening”. Nevertheless, Santos has a promising career ahead and should be viewed as a favorite to win gold in Rio in 2016.
Nearly sixty minutes after Sánchez won gold, Yarisley Silva of Cuba earned second place in the women’s pole vault.
Silva cleared 4.75m along with Jennifer Suhr of the U.S. but the Cuban was awarded the silver medal since she had missed one more jump than Suhr.
Five medals by five athletes in the space of sixty minutes. Day ten of the 2012 Summer Games was surely one of the most historic and memorable in the history of Latin American sports.
In other notable results from Monday:
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