Hot! John Orozco

By Matt Gagne, SI.com

Before he attempted to overcome the actual world, John Orozco required for a mountain. Last fall, concerning per month ahead of the 2011 World Gymnastic Championships in Tokyo, one of the top U.S. medal hopes headed in order to Japan, risked livelihood along with limb by simply barrelling decrease double black gemstone slopes throughout Aspen, Colo. He is really a stemless glass by simply deal his or her teammates call up him that Silent Ninja the two with regard to his Matrix-like ability to help climb throughout the air flow and also his knack for sneaking up on your competition however there was clearly next to nothing graceful in relation to his or her somersaults about skis. "Snow was getting back in this T-shirt, my hands and wrists were frickin' numb and my personal face ended up being wet. I seemed to be slipping everywhere," states Orozco, that experienced never skied before. "My trainer didn't be informed on it. He'd possibly be like, 'So near to Worlds? What the hell?'"

Vitaly Marinitch, Orozco's coach during the U.S. Olympic Training Center throughout Colorado Springs, has been gob smacked to find out of his star pupil's skiing excursion however shouldn't have been. "He's pretty, tips on how to express it, crazy," affirms Marinitch. "But he's a perfect at gymnastics."

The 19-year-old Orozco is by far the most polished all-around gymnast for the U.S. gents team, which can be gunning for its first Olympic platinum honor inside team competition (Monday at 11:30 a.m. ET) since 1984. He returned from which facts holiday to become the top American finisher (fifth) at the World Championships, supporting this U.S. gain your bronze medal. Then in June he won the U.S. nation's subject within St. Louis, edging defending champ Danell Leyva by simply .05 of your point. At this Olympic trial run about three months later with San Jose, he complete following to be able to Leyva by only a point.

Orozco's talent as well as news bordering your ex boyfriend inside lead-up to London he's been showcased from a songs video tutorial by the band Gym Class Heroes and name-checked in a very conversational by simply Michelle Obama suggest this his area in the Olympics had been practically preordained. But as a Puerto Rican on the Bronx who is the particular child of the retired sanitation worker and also a replacement teacher, Orozco is definitely outlier in a in the past suburban, higher middle-class sport. For the actual Silent Ninja, finding achievements has been not any certain thing.

During one among his first trips towards the Olympic Training Center seeing that a youthful teenager, the particular dark-skinned Orozco dropped a part regarding chocolates cake offered by simply one of his peers. Another gymnast asked, "What, you never eat your individual kind?" Another time, probably his / her associates chatted upwards as soon as Orozco had been requested exactly where home was: "He's from Africa and also something." At a closed society camp about the East Coast, a young child the moment shared with Orozco, "Get faraway from me, my the mother said dark-colored individuals have diseases."

Even inside New York City reduing pot, youngsters with school would inform John, "Oh, gymnastics, that may be gay." He'd just rotate his eyes and ask them, "Can an individual do a backflip?"