A Cuban-born world judo bronze medalist who returned to the sport after moving to the United States. The son of a pioneer of the new Olympic sport, breaking, who came to the United States after an arduous journey through the desert. Basketball players and track and field athletes who came to the United States to play college and professional sports and decided to represent their new country internationally.
Many of The 594 athletes The nominees for this summer’s U.S. Olympic team are immigrants or children of immigrants, all of whom have chosen to represent a country in crisis. of a movement That would have limited their ability to get there or stay there, even by legal means.
An analysis by George Mason University’s Immigration Research Institute found that 3.7% of athletes This year’s U.S. Olympic team members are all foreign-born, with more than 7 percent being children of immigrants or second-generation immigrants.
Some athletes came to the U.S. specifically for the sport and then became citizens. That’s a common path in athletics: Leonard Korir is one of many African distance runners who came to the U.S. for college and ended up representing their new country. In Korir’s case, his national service isn’t limited to athletics; he has also joined the US Army.
But even in a sport like basketball, long dominated by American athletes, immigrants can appear on the list. Joel Embiid was Born and raised in Cameroon. before coming to the US as a high school student to pursue a career in basketball.
Other foreign-born athletes have joined Team USA for countless reasons, from athletic opportunities to harrowing escapes from dangerous situations in their home countries:
Abdihamid Nur (athletics): The long distance runner was Born in SomaliaBut his family did not stay there long after his birth. They escaped to Kenya and lived for a few years in Egypt before coming to the United States.
Maria Laborde (judo): Many American sports have athletes who left Cuba in search of greater opportunities in life and sport, and judo is no exception. Laborde won a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships competing for Cuba. But at another competition later that year in Mexico, Laborde left the Cuban delegation and sought asylumgiving up a possible place at the 2016 Olympics along with everything he knew from home.
Weini Kelati (athletics): Oregon’s Hayward Field is a legendary venue in track and field and will always hold special meaning for Kelati. After representing Eritrea at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Hayward, Kelati sought asylumShe moved to Virginia, earned a scholarship to the University of New Mexico and obtained her citizenship just before the 2021 Olympic trials, held at Hayward Field. She didn’t make the team that year, but returned to Hayward for this year’s trials and won an exciting 10,000m race in which the lead changed hands several times on the final lap.
Steffen Peters (equestrian): When the dressage specialist failed to obtain his citizenship in time to compete for the U.S. at the 1992 Olympics, U.S. team official Fiona Baan came up with what, in retrospect, is one of the understatements of the 20th century: The Los Angeles Times“He’s a young guy and I’m sure we’ll see him in the future.” This summer, Peters competed in his sixth Olympic Games at the age of 59.
Beiwen Zhang (badminton): Born in China and also represented Singapore at international level before moving to the US and pursuing a career that has seen her ranked in the top 10 globally several times in recent years.
Parents of some athletes came to the United States as refugees
Naomi Girma (football), Ethiopia: In 1977, a repressive regime took control of Ethiopia, triggering civil war and famine. Girma Aweke, a teenager at the time, joined an underground opposition movement. until conditions worsened so bad that he fled, at one point trusting a family of strangers who cared for him while he suffered from malaria and eventually made it to Sudan, where he was selected for a resettlement program that brought him to San Francisco. He worked in restaurants, put himself through college, and married a fellow Ethiopian. His daughter, Naomi Girmainherited from his father Love for the football and became one of the most reliable centre-backs in the game, ranked 36th in The Guardian’s most recent list. The 100 best female footballers in the world.
Yared Nuguse (athletics), Ethiopia: Alem Nuguse was a teacher in Ethiopia in the early 1980s until he was imprisoned. After his release, he followed a similar path to Girma Aweke. heading to Sudan and went to the United States, where he married a woman from the same region of Ethiopia. His son, Yared, went to Tokyo in 2021, but had to Withdrawing from the Games with a quadriceps strain. He will return as a medal contender, currently ranked second in the world at 1500m.
Victor Montalvo (breaking), Mexico: Victor and Hector Bermudez were prominent breakdancers in Mexico who I escaped Poverty and gang violence Walking through the Chihuahua desertA few years later, when they settled in the United States, they showed their children some moves. Victor’s son, Victor Montalvo, was so inspired that he became one of the best in the world and won The 2002 World Games competition and the 2023 World Championships.
Lilia Vu (golf), Vietnam: Vu’s grandfather, Dinh Du, spent months building a makeshift boat for… Get your family and dozens more Vietnam. Just as the ship began taking on water, Du’s flares caught the attention of a U.S. Navy ship, which rescued everyone on board.