More than 30 foreigners are on the team representing the United States at the London Olympic Games, and all are living examples of how much immigrants are contributing to their adopted country, reported EFE.
One example tells the story, as in the case of runner Leo Manzano, son of an undocumented immigrant worker. Manzano was crazy about sports from the time he was a toddler, and at high school in Marble Falls, Texas, he won nine state championships.
This year his victory in a 1,500-meter race earned him a place on the team going to London.
But there are many more examples. The 23-year-old boxer Marlen Esparza, in pursuit of her dream to win an Olympic medal, will face off on Aug. 6 against the winner of a bout between a Brazilian and a Venezuelan. Esparza, daughter of Mexican immigrants is the first woman to qualify for the Olympic Games in the first year that female boxing has been accepted as a sport.
Meanwhile the gymnast from Homestead, Florida, Danell Leyva, is also chasing a medal by competing on the parallel bars. Born 21 years ago in Matanzas, Cuba, Leyva emigrated to the United States with her mother when she was only 3, while her stepfather and trainer, Yin Alvarez, came across the Rio Grande illegally.
