Born to Illegal Immigrants, Henry Cejudo Wins Gold for U.S.

A wonderful success story of an immigrant who worked hard all his young life and now has a gold medal for the USA. DP

Wall Street Journal

wsj.com: American wrestler Henry Cejudo, the son of illegal immigrants from Mexico, won gold in the 121-pound freestyle final on Tuesday, before much of his family, but not his mother, Nelly Rico, who provided for him during a tough childhood.

“From California to New Mexico to Arizona, Henry Cejudo moved nearly 50 times as a child, and never slept alone in his own bed until given a bunk by USA Wrestling as a participant in the resident program at the U.S. Olympic training facility,” Mark Kiszla writes in the Denver Post. “The lonely athlete regularly awoke in the morning and ran 5 miles to attend Coronado High School, where despite his two state wrestling titles the hallways were filled with students he always considered strangers. So what kept Cejudo’s spirit strong? ‘My mom,’ he said. ‘We call her The Terminator. She’s a tough lady.’ ”

“Sometimes they moved downstairs in the same apartment building,” Jeff Jacobs writes in the Hartford Courant. “Sometimes Henry’s mom and his six siblings didn’t even bother unpacking their bags. Yet no matter where they were at the moment, no matter how many places they lived, Nelly Rico’s message didn’t change. ‘My mom would always say, “Whatever you want to do, you can do. You want to be an astronaut? You can be an astronaut. You want to be a doctor? You can be a doctor.” ‘ ”

So why wasn’t Ms. Rico watching on Tuesday? “Henry said she remained behind to care for her half-dozen nieces and nephews just as she once had cared for her own by working two jobs, cleaning toilets, doing factory work, carpentry, you name it,” Mr. Jacobs writes. “Minutes later, Henry’s older brother Alonzo let us in on a little secret. Nelly, 47, gets so nervous when her son wrestles she can’t help vomiting. This day would have overwhelmed her.”

The Cejudo cheering section made up for her absence. “Alonzo was part of a celebratory contingent so into Henry’s matches at the Agricultural University Gymnasium that security personnel had to come over ‘about 20 times’ to tell them the Chinese don’t get that raucous at sporting events,” Jerome Solomon writes in the Houston Chronicle. “Oh, but Americans do. The Cejudo Clan narrowly avoided being ejected, as there was plenty to celebrate watching Cejudo shock the world.”