The 2016 Rio results for eleven US Latino Summer Olympic Athletes

Last night we bid a found goodbye to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games closing ceremonies.  Despite the rain the Rio closing ceremonies succeeded in delivering drama and entertainment.

This year we were entertained by a mix of seasoned veterans and young talented athletes we hope to see again in the XXXII Olympiad, Tokyo, Japan 2020. Who last hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1964.

Here are a rundown of Latino US Olympic veteran and newbie athletes who represented Team USA:

Latino veterans athletes included:

Carmelo Anthony NBA star in basketball, Tony Azevedo for waterpolo, Melissa Gonzalez field hockey, Danell Leyva, gymnast, Ryan Lochte swimmer, Steven Lopez martial arts- taekwondo and Diana Taurasi, in basketball

Latino newbie athletes included:

Synchronized swimmer Anita Alvarez, Carlos Balderas, boxing, Judo Olympian Angelica Delgado, Laurie Hernandez, gymnast and boxer Nico Hernandez.

Photo credits: TeamUSA.org

Carmelo Anthony- forward- basketball

Carmelo Anthony NBA forward most recently with the New York Knicks set a new Olympic record for points scored in a single game as part of the gold-medal U.S. basketball team in the London Summer Olympic Games. Carmelo is half Puerto Rican.

2016 Summer Olympic Games results:

US men’s basketball team- Gold medalist

Anita Alvarez –Synchronized Swimming

Anita Alvarez is a native New Yorker at age 19 experienced her first Olympics.

Anita Alvarez was paired with synchronized swimmer Mariya Koroleva.

2016 Summer Olympic Games results:

Synchronized Swimming Mariya Koroleva and Anita Alvarez, the U.S. duet, finished in ninth place with 173.9945 points

Tony Azevedo – Water Polo

Captain Tony Azevedo, born in Rio de Janeiro Brazil and raised in California. He is 34 years old.

Azevedo will become the first U.S. water polo player ever to compete in five consecutive Olympics. His best finish was a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At age 4 he fell and severed his trachea and esophagus, doctor wrote him off for athletics…nobody anticipated he would be a world class athlete.  

2016 Summer Olympic Games results:

The United States water polo team was eliminated from quarterfinal contention, beat Italy 10-7 in its final game in Rio de Janeiro.

Carlos Balderas — Boxing

Carlos a Mexican-American was born and raised in California experienced his first Olympics at age 19.

2016 Summer Olympic Games results:

Quarter Finals loss to to Cuba’s Lazaro Alvarez

Angelica Delgado – Judo

Angelica a Cuban-American was born and raised in Florida. Her father Miguel was a member of Cuba’s national team and trained Angelica at a young age. Angelica is currently 25 years old.

2016 Summer Olympic Games results:

Eliminated opening match against Tsolmon Adiyasambuu from Mongolia.

Melissa Gonzalez – Field Hockey

Melissa Gonzalez a Field Hockey mid fielder was born in Westchester County, NY and currently resides in Coronado, California made her international debut in 2010 and has been a key member of Team USA in every major tournament. With her tournament experience and 27 years age old she’s a USA team veteran.

2016 Summer Olympic Games results:

The US team field hockey team advanced to quarter finals bust was eliminated by Germany

Laurie Hernandez — Gymnast

2016 Summer Olympic Games results:

Women’s team all-around Gold Women’s Balance Beam Silver

Laurie had amazing debut for a 16 year old capturing two gold medals. This New Jersey native of Puerto Rican heritage is the first US Latina gymnast since 1984.

Nico Hernandez — Boxing 

2016 Summer Olympic Games results:

Nico Hernandez won a bronze medal

At age 20 this native Kansan was an all around athlete growing up. He first put on the gloves at age nine.

Danell Leyva — Gymnast

2016 Summer Olympic Games results:

Men’s parallel bars silver –high bar silver

Danell a Cuban-American born in Cuba and raise in Miami is 24 years old. He was a 2011 U.S national all-around gold medalist and the 2011 world champion on the parallel bars. Leyva won Bronze in the 2012 London Olympics in the Men’s All Around [Artistic] competition.

Next- Three more US Latino Olymics Atlhetes and results