The son of illegal immigrants, American wrestler hoists his flag with pride

"He has shared everything for most of his scuffled life, from twin beds to sofa cushions to last bites."

"It only made sense, then, that when he stunningly won an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling Tuesday, the Los Angeles-born son of undocumented Mexican immigrants would also share," writes Bill Plaschke.

That flag gave a chance to a kid who paid for wrestling by selling tamales on the street. That kid now held it tight as he dropped to the mat and dissolved in tears.

"I'm living the American dream," said [Henry] Cejudo, 21. "The United States is the land of opportunity, and I'm so glad I can represent it."

The flag gave his mother a chance to raise six children on menial wages in countless apartments from Los Angeles to Las Cruces, N.M., to Phoenix. The son now flapped it across his back like a cape, as if showing the world how it had enabled him to fly.

Kevin Baxter profiles Cejudo here, and adds more color from the event:

Cejudo's parents divorced when he was 4 and he saw his father, Jorge, only one more time before he died in Mexico City. But his mother, Nelly Rico, raised a family of six children on her own, bouncing from low-paying jobs in California to New Mexico and Arizona, where the family sometimes slept four to a bed.

A large group of family and friends -- including sister Gloria, brother Alonzo and brother Angel, his training partner in Beijing -- were in the stands for the match. And they made so much noise they were nearly ejected at one point.

Click here for more on Mexico and here for more on immigration.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Henry Cejudo of the United States celebrates winning the gold medal in men's freestyle 55- kilogram wrestling Tuesday in Beijing. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Southoc]

Give Mexico the gold deport him and bill Mexico for the cost of his and his families healthcare and education.

[James]

Not surprising his family was ejected. I see that behavior all the time in Los Angeles.

[Curious]

Is the whole world now wondering what is the legal status of his mother and what is going to happen with her? All the reporting is making and then ignoring an 800 lb. gorilla in the living room!