The Olympics
Monica Puig
In case you forgot, a little event happened in Rio called the 31st Olympiad. Latino athletes did not disappoint. Among them, was Monica Puig. An unseeded tennis player who was the Cinderella story of the games. She swept past no less than five other competitors to win the gold a medal, the first ever for Puerto Rico and the first woman to ever do so.
Laurie Hernandez
Another Olympic darling to come out of Rio de Janiero was U.S. gymnast Laurie Hernandez. As part of the Final Five this little bundle of Boricua blew the roof off of the 2016 Olympics in Rio, capturing the gold medal in the Women’s Gymnastics Team All Around and snagging a silver medal for herself for the balance beam event.
Latino America Represents
Aside from the aforementioned Brazilian soccer team and Monica Puig snagging gold. Athletes from all of Latino America did their thing in Rio. Cuba earned two gold medals on the wrestling mat and three more gold medals in boxing. While Argentina didn’t take the gold in soccer, they did capture gold in men’s field hockey.