Black Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn Wins Gold Medal

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn broke an Olympic record and won a gold medal in Tokyo

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When Jasmine Camacho-Quinn broke an Olympic record and won a gold medal in Tokyo, she celebrated a historic win as an athlete, a Black representative of Puerto Rico and a member of a family she just recently met.

Camacho-Quinn made history twice in Tokyo. She beat Kendra Harrison of the United States in the women’s 100-meter hurdles and set a new Olympic record of 12.26 seconds in the semifinal.

As Camacho-Quinn mounted the Olympic stage on Monday, “La Borinqueña,” the island’s national anthem, rang in the background and she wore Puerto Rico’s national flower in her hair.

Monica Velez, born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, said she was brought to tears seeing the Puerto Rican flag worn by a woman who looked like her on the Olympic stage.

“There’s nothing like seeing my island win but even better is seeing a beautiful Black boricua doing it. Someone who looks like me,” Velez told USA TODAY. “The representation, the love the island is showing her, it’s amazing.”

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