Olympics fever captivates workplaces and homes rooting for their favorite athletes

Saludos, amigos:

Last Friday, like perhaps many of you, I turned on the television and watched the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The event, which featured athletes from across the world traveling in boats down the Seine River, offered lessons on geography, culture and history, and showed once again why the games are such a unifying force, especially during times of tumult and political uncertainty.

In the midst of wars and election campaigns, the athletes help us to aspire to our highest ideals of achievement. Plus, so much of it is so much fun and harrowing to watch from gymnastics to swimming.

I am eager to watch the debut of break dancing at the Olympics, which starts on Aug. 9.

2023 world champion B-boy Victor Montalvo is favored to win the Gold Medal.

Montalvo is of Mexican descent and his family are break dancing pioneers. In a 2020 story for USA TODAY, Montalvo told the reporter: "Back in the Bronx, when it first started, it was always neighborhoods of kids just battling each other. That’s how they did it back in the day. Now, it’s big-stage competitions and people flying all over the world, battling the best of the best."

There are many Tennessee connections to the Olympics including the Walsh sisters, Gretchen and Alex, in swimming .

My newsroom has gone wild over rugby, gymnastics and swimming. I know several friends who are especially excited about soccer.

Are you watching the Olympics? Who are you rooting for and why?

What else you'll find in the newsletter

• Two Tennessean presidents had no children. What does JD Vance have to say about them?
• What is the best Tennessee city to move to ? 2024 study says these East TN cities top the list
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• Fight back against this assault on DEI. Diversity makes communities and workforce stronger

Resources

• Casa de la Cultura Latino Americana
• Centro Hispano de East Tennessee
• Conexión Américas
• Equal Chance for Education
• FUTURO, Inc.
• Global Education Center
• Hispanic Family Foundation
• Latinos for Tennessee
• Mosaic Changemakers
• Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Nashville Hispanic Bar Association
• Nashville Music City: Hispanic and Latin American events
• Plaza Mariachi Music City
• Sonrisa Dickson
• Tennessee Health Care Campaign
• Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition
• Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors
• Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce
• Vanderbilt University's Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies (CLACX)
• University of Tennessee Knoxville Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Please send your recommendations, story ideas and events.

¡Muchas gracias!

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network - Tennessee. He is of Colombian and Cuban descent, has studied or worked in several Spanish-speaking countries, and was the founding editor of Gaceta Tropical in Southwest Florida. He has lived in Tennessee since 2014. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas .

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Olympics fever captivates workplaces and homes rooting for their favorite athletes