Miami Herald: When Danell Leyva dismounted from the pommel horse like a bow-legged cowboy instead of a graceful gymnast, his chances of winning a medal in his first Olympics seemed to have hit the mat with a thud.
Danell Leyva, Olympic bronze medalist. Photo courtesy of Miami Herald.
But Leyva didn’t panic. He knew his two strongest events were yet to come in Wednesday’s all-around competition. He began methodically scaling the leader board with each routine, from 17th place to 11th to sixth.
As Leyva hooded his head with his lucky towel to prevent himself from looking at the standings and doing the math on his deficit, his stepfather and coach, Yin Alvarez, paced the floor like a caged lion. Alvarez kept telling Leyva to relax, yet behind him he was constantly making the sign of the cross, scratching his beard, calculating hundredths of points. …
As the world’s best 24 gymnasts vaulted and spun and swiveled on six apparatuses, it all built to a climax for Leyva and Alvarez. Everything — the defection 20 years ago, starting from scratch in Little Havana, building a gym, training until the hands bled, holding fast to a vision — was coming down to the last routine. …
