In more evidence that Latino athletes are totally ruling the __London Olympic__s this summer, yesterday, 23-year-old Marlen Esparza officially became the first U.S. woman to ever win an Olympic boxing match!
Esparza defeated Venezuela's contestant, Karlha Magliocco, in a women's flyweight division round on Monday, advancing herself to Wednesday's semifinals. The victory also guarantees her a medal in London since all four semifinalists earn one, with the top two getting gold and silver and the bottom two both earning bronze.
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I am personally SO excited for Esparza! She is such an amazing young woman, first becoming the first ever U.S. female boxer to even qualify for the Olympics and now breaking a second record with her win last night. Her accomplishments and hard work are truly inspiring not just to us Latinas, but women everywhere.
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And I admire her even more because she totally embraces her femininity even while excelling at such a rough-and-tumble career. In fact, Esparza is not ashamed to say she's a little bit of a girly girl at heart, even admitting to applying a light base of makeup and putting on perfume before a fight! Haha, is that a Latina move or what? These practices also led her to recently be named as a Cover Girl model.
Wow, superstar athlete, Olympian medalist, and a Cover Girl? That's one incredible woman!
What do you think of Esparza's win? Tell us in the comments below!
Image via Getty Images