This past summer, the 2024 Olympics in Paris brought history to nations worldwide. With athletes achieving world records and countries winning Olympic medals for the first time. 13 Hispanic athletes around the world took home the gold, including two athletes for the U.S.
According to NBC News, Hezly Rivera, Diana Taurasi, Daniella Ramirez and Anita Alvarez were the four Latina Olympians to compete for the U.S. and made it onto the podium.
At only the age of 16-years-old, Hezly Rivera earned gold in women’s artistic gymnastics at the Olympics this year as the youngest member for the U.S. gymnastics team. The Oradell, New Jersey native placed 20th on the uneven bars and 46th on the beam as a first-time Olympian.
With Rivera’s parents being born in the Dominican Republic, she honors her backgrounds for both countries. The gymnast carried her roots with her to Paris to represent her Latin American heritage, as stated in an article by Remezcla. Rivera wants to grow the community and wants younger Latinas to be able to look up to her, she explained in the article.
Early in her career for U.S. Gymnastics, Rivera’s emerging talent rose through the ranks to be where she is today, as stated by Team USA. In 2022, she placed third in all-around at the Winter Cup, helped USA win gold at Deutscher Turner-Bund (DTB) Pokal Team Challenge in Stuttgart, Germany, placed second in all-around at U.S. Classic where she also won gold on balance beam and sixth in all-around at National Championships where she earned bronze on floor exercise.
In 2023, Rivera won all-around at Winter Cup and first on beam and floor, was named to Junior World Championships team and helped the U.S. finish second where she won silver on floor exercise in Antalya, Turkey.
During her senior debut this year, Rivera earned third place in all-around at Winter Cup and tied for first on beam, sixth in all-around at National Championships and fifth in all-around at Olympic Trials and tied for first on beam.
Argentinian Diana Taurasi represented the U.S. women’s basketball team by winning her sixth gold medal in her final Olympic Games in Paris.
Her father was born in Italy and raised in Argentina, while her mother was a native Argentinian, as stated by Team USA. Even though her family immigrated to Chino, California before she was born, she has been carrying her Hispanic roots for a while as an Olympic athlete.
Her career started in 2004 at the Olympic Games in Athens where she received her first gold medal for the U.S. team. Taurasi then earned five more medals in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, 2020 in Tokyo and her final medal in Paris this year.
During her two years at the World Championships, Taurasi earned bronze in 2006 and gold in 2010. The fluent Spanish speaker was named four-time USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year and nicknamed “White Mamba” by Kobe Bryant, former Los Angeles Lakers forward-guard and two-time gold medalist for the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
She explained that growing up in an Argentinian household made her who she is today, according to Cronkite News. From the language, the music and the food, Taurasi embraces her heritage as she competes and reminisces on her life growing up in a Latino household.
While not all athletes brought home gold medals this year like Rivera and Taurasi, in the swimming scene these two athletes helped bring back hardware in the past 20 years.
Teammates Daniella Ramirez and Anita Alvarez earned silver this year in Paris for the U.S. Artistic Swimming team.
Ramirez is a third-generation synchronized swimmer behind her grandmother, mother and sister, while her father and brother were both swimmers and divers. According to Team USA, the Venezuelan American represented her family’s American dream by competing in Paris this year as a first-time Olympian.
Some of Ramirez’s career highlights include the World Junior Championships in Budapest in 2018 with the Free Routine Combination, the Pan American Games in Lima in 2019 and the Pan American Games in Santiago.
From her time at the World Championships in 2022, she earned fifth for team highlights, sixth for team technical routine, seventh for duet technical routine and ninth for team free routine.
Alvarez returned to the Olympics after passing out in the pool at the World Championships two years ago. In 2022, the Buffalo, N.Y. native earned 6th for solo technical routine, seventh for duet technical routine and solar free routine and ninth for team free routine, as stated by Team USA.
She earned her first silver Olympic medal for Team USA in Paris, while previously receiving ninth for duet in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and 13th in Tokyo in 2020.
These four olympians, Rivera, Taurasi, Ramirez and Alvarez, not only have a love for their sport, but represent what it means to honor their lineage.
