One of the two Olympic sports I snagged tickets for later this month is gymnastics and I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing today's Immigrant of the Day. Cuban-born Daniel Leyva will head up the American men's team in London thanks to a solid Olympics trials which concluded yesterday in San Jose. Leyva's family came as Cuban refugees nearly 20 years ago. His parents were both gymnasts in Cuba, but as the Washington Post reports, they did not expect their son to follow in their footsteps.
This description of one of his events by the Post should give you a hint of what we're likely to see in London:
Leyva’s high bar routine puts even the best circus act to shame, and is sure to send the guys in China, Japan and Germany running for YouTube. His routine is jam-packed with difficulty, one intricate combination after another. But unlike the rest of the world’s best, he finds little ways to stand out: a tiny stutter-hop of his hands before one of his four release moves, throwing his arms out on another release move so he looks like an eagle in flight. Despite all that high-flying adrenaline, though, he never lost his rhythm, flowing from one trick right into the next.
Good luck, Daniel!
The Carnegie Corporation, recognizes that immigrants are amongst the most valued citizens and recognizes them each July 4th. So linked below are the 45 individuals who are the Pride of America:
http://carnegie.org/fileadmin/Media/Heroes/NYTimes_4th_July_ad_2012_01.pdf
http://carnegie.org/programs/democracy-and-civic-integration/immigrants-the-pride-of-america/
Posted by: USC | July 04, 2012 at 09:49 AM