📊 Olympics

This week marked Olympics history.

And don’t worry, this isn’t the millionth story about Snoop Dogg, LeBron James, US gymnastics drama, or the mayor of Paris swimming in the Seine.

No, we had our eyes on 29-year old Adriana Ruano Oliva, a Guatemalan sports shooter who just earned her country its first ever gold medal at the Summer Olympics held in France. What’s crazy is that this wasn’t even her initial sports dream: thirteen years ago, she was training as an Olympic gymnast when a back injury ended her career preemptively and she took up shooting as a sports backup.

Today, this young woman from Guatemala City makes her whole country, her whole region, proud.

Latin American countries may not get the attention that peers like Japan, China, or the United States do at the Olympics. But don’t count out the region for a second.

Big Latin American countries like Brazil and Argentina may send quite a few athletes to the Olympics, but proportionally speaking it’s much smaller players like Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and the Dominican Republic which impress the most. In the case of Puerto Rico, the small US territory has a staggering 15 people headed to Paris for each million of its citizens—far ahead of the competition.

But the Caribbean is not just on fire when it comes to athletic prowess. In taking home medals, too, Latin America’s island nations may surprise you.

Just take a look at Cuba, which has more medals per capita than basically any other country worldwide. Not too shabby.

All in all, the Olympics are a time for bringing nations together through competition, sport, and fair play—as well as the occasional opening ceremony scandal or two.

Whether it be this year in Paris or in four years in Los Angeles, we’re confident Latin America will continue to show up and demonstrate why some of the best surfers, soccer players, and even trap shooters come from the region.