Changing China
Giant on the move
The school of hard knocks
Luis Yanez, a pocket-sized 19-year-old from Duncanville, Texas, wipes his sore nose with his bandaged hand and catches his breath, showing off a string of broken down teeth.
Grandly nicknamed the Latin Legend, he has been working at a Mexican restaurant in the Dallas area since the age of 13.
Before coming here, he went through strenuous daily workouts at the U.S. team’s year-long residence programme in Colorado Springs. He went missing at one stage and was kicked out of the team before being reinstated in appeal.
The night before Friday’s draw, he had found his best friend and team mate Gary Russell Jr. unconscious in the room they share. Russell had collapsed after struggling to make his weight. He is okay now but his Olympics are over.
