Only 4 Latina Gymnasts Have Repped Team USA at the Olympics Since 1936

*The opening ceremony for the Rio Summer Olympics is a little more than a week away. VL

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By Yara Simon, Remezcla

When 16-year-old Laurie Hernandez made Team USA’s Olympics squad, the news electrified the internet. Though she’s not the first Latina to represent the US gymnastics at the world’s largest sports stage, having a Latina on the 2016 team is important in a sport that remains very white. In the spring of 2007, asurvey of the Member Clubs of USA Gymnastics found that Latino participation stood at just 3.63 percent. Meanwhile, white participation came in at the biggest share at 74.6 percent. Things may have shifted some since then, but even four years ago, the Huffington Post reported that cost still kept many women of color from participating in the sport.

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This isn’t a responsibility that Laurie takes lightly, either. “Si Dios lo quiere, to represent the US as the only Latina gymnast would be such an honor,” she told The Guardian. “I feel I could be a role model to other Hispanic gymnasts interested in the sport but I also want them to understand the importance of being focused, determined, and not giving up, despite all the struggles.”

Female gymnasts first began to compete in the Olympics in 1926, but the US’ women’s gymnastics team started participating in 1936. In 80 years, only four Latinas . . .  READ MORE

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Suggested reading

“If you don’t do anything, nothing will happen.” Nancy De Los Santos Reza learned this important lesson early in life. College wasn’t an option, so she got a job as a secretary. A colleague, an older woman who had taken a liking to her, encouraged Nancy to ask her supervisor about attending a professional conference in California. “What’s the worst that could happen?” the woman asked. “They say ‘no’ and you don’t go? You’re already not going.” As a result, Nancy found herself in San Francisco on a life-changing trip. She would go on to earn two college degrees and become the producer of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel’s movie review program, At the Movies.

De Los Santos Reza’s is one of eight inspiring personal essays by Latinas included in this collection. Each contributor overcame obstacles to happiness and success, and here they share their life lessons in the hopes of motivating others. Whether overcoming fear, guilt or low self-esteem, these women seek to encourage others to discover their personal power.

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