9. Mexico Wins First Gold Medal In Olympic Football
Now this was damn great football! Brazil and Mexico went head-to-head for what was guaranteed to be a historic game no matter the outcome. Brazil wanted to win its first gold medal in its history. Meanwhile, Mexico was guaranteed its first gold or silver as it had never won either.
Mexico won the game 2 – 1 thanks to the fancy foot- and headwork of Oribe “El Cepillo” Peralta. The striker from Santos Laguna received an intercepted pass courtesy of teammate Javier Aquino and scored 29 seconds into the match, an Olympics record. Peralta scored again late in the second half when he headed a free kick rocketed into the penalty area by Marco Fabian. The play launched commentator Andres Cantor into the longest series of GOOOOOOOOOOOOOL screams since that one time he lost his voice in that one World Cup years ago (you know which one!).
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10. Latino Athletes Lead USA To Olympic Medal Wins
For further proof that the USA needs Latinos in its life, look no further than the Olympic games. The US water polo team, which included latinas Brenda Villa and Jessica Steffens, took home the gold medal. Meanwhile, chicana Marlen Esparza of Houston, TX took home the bronze medal in the flyweight division in Women’s Boxing.
Finally, dual citizen and UT Longhorn record-holder Leonel Manzano (born in Guanajuato, raised in Texas) won silver in the Men’s 1500 m race. It was the first time a US athlete medaled in that race since Jim Ryun won silver in Mexico 1968.
Leo then took his victory lap: