The competitions are now over, the winners have been announced and the medals have been handed out at the 2016 Olympic Games Rio. For 17 days, Rio was the host country to the best athletes from around the world who battled for glory and competed against each other for one of the three coveted medals. Demonstrations of hard work, dedication, commitment and sportsmanship were all in attendance at this year’s games, but also in attendance were the best Latino athletes who proudly represented their countries of origin and of course, the United States.
With so many events happening around the clock, it was easy to miss some of the greatest shining moments from our Hispanic athletes, but for Comcast’s Xfinity users that is one easy problem to solve. The company provided a revolutionary technology during the games and will now have the events available On Demand and online till the end of September. Xfinity will even make available the NBC and X1 Sports Apps which contain some events that were never broadcasted on TV.
These are some of the top Hispanic athletes whose performances are worth checking out again or for the first time:
Credit: Instagram.com – @lauriehernandez_
Without a doubt, one of the biggest stars to stem out of this edition of the Olympics was 16-year-old Laurie Hernandez. The second-generation Puerto Rican and New Jersey native won a gold and a silver medal as the youngest member of the now called “Final Five” U.S. gymnastics team. She was unknown by casual fans until her breakout performance six months ago in the national championships. Users can access her performances by speaking her name on the X1 Voice Remote.
Credit: Instagram.com – @monicaace93
Monica Puig from Puerto Rico, who ranked 34th in the Women’s Tennis Association coming into the games, made history for the island by winning their first gold medal, ever. Monica faced German player and favorite Angelique Kerber in a nail biting tennis competition that lasted two hours and nine minutes. Puerto Rican Beatriz ‘Gigi’ Fernandez had won gold in 1992 in Barcelona and in 1996 in Atlanta while wearing the U.S.A. flag. One of the ways her final match can be relived is through Xfinity’s Online App.
Credit: Instagram.com – @daneljleyva
Then there was Cuban-American Danell Leyva who took two Silver medals in Men’s Gymnastics for team U.S.A. As luck may have it, Leyva was an alternate at this year’s games and was called upon to replace teammate John Orozco who suffered an injury during practice. Representing in the truest form of professionalism, Levya earned team U.S.A. the Silver medal in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics which had not been won by team U.S.A. since the 1996 Olympics. Having won two Silver medals in Rio 2016, Leyva proved to be a winner and the most decorated male gymnast for team U.S.A. You can watch his performances by saying “male gymnastics” to the X1 Voice Remote.
Credit: Instagram.com – @habladeportes
But we must not forget the emotion in Oscar Figueroa’s performance as he represented his country of Colombia in weight lifting. Figueroa made his return to the Olympic arena this year where he won the gold medal for lifting 318kg, a record for the 62kg weight class. This is the second medal for Figueroa who won the Silver medal at the 2012 games in London. Following his competition at Rio 2016 a very emotional Figueroa announced his retirement. His moment of glory in Rio might not have been broadcasted on TV, but users can watch it again on the NBC Sports App available through Xfinity’s cable box the X1 Platform.
SOURCE: H&M Communications