Famous Hispanic athletesFamous Hispanic athletes regardless of race all have a Spanish origin. As an Olympic athlete, I immediately think of the amazing athletes from Cuba, especially Alberto Juantorena. He was a very tall, graceful gazelle like 400m and 800m runner. I remember watching him win Olympic gold medals in both those events at the 1976 Olympics. Even though I had ran a fast time of 11.52sec, and qualified as an alternate for the Olympic games, at the young age of 16, I was kept off the team, because they said I was too young. Imagine. The 1976 Montreal Olympics were right in our backyard. When I finally met him and had a chance to sit beside him, I was actually too nervous to say anything to him. We were both getting ready to compete in a European track and field meet, so it was not unusual for us to be sitting in silence focusing on our upcoming events. However I was thinking , wow I am sitting beside one of the greatest athletes on the planet.” Hispanic athletes come for countries like Puerto Rico (actually a territory of the U.S.), Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Spain, Brazil, and the Philippines. These countries have produced such great athletes like marathoner Alberto Salazar, baseball player Roberto Alomar, golfer Nancy Lopez , and soccer player Pele, just to name a few.
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