Celebrating AAPI Athletic Achievements
Written by Edward Yen and Winnie Xiao
Since 2020, AAPIs have struggled with the anti-AAPI hate felt across the country. The Tokyo Summer Olympics reminds us that Americans of all races, culture and gender are competing in the Olympics representing one country, USA. The Olympics help remind us that what makes the US a great country is the fact that we are a country made of immigrants succeeding not despite being diverse, but rather because we are diverse. In this article, LACAAEA celebrates the outstanding achievements of all our AAPI Olympic athletes that are proudly representing all of us on the world stage. In this article, we’ve highlighted just a handful of unique stories to inspire you to stand taller.
Torri Huske, Chinese American
Women’s Swimming - Women’s 100m Butterfly
Torri is a biracial Virginia native who started swimming at 7. She credits her Chinese American mother as her inspiration for reaching her dreams. As a young adult, she quickly rose through the ranks and won competitions that placed her on the Olympics team. During the swimming trials for the Olympics, Torri broke the US women’s record for 100-meter butterfly not once, but twice!
Swimming has traditionally been a white-dominated sport in which other racial minorities seldom get the encouragement to participate. However, in this Olympics, Asian swimmers from different countries have shown the world that they are just as capable to excel in this sport.
Sakura Kokumai, Japanese American
Women’s Karate - Kata
Sakura is a first-generation Japanese American, born in Hawaii and raised in Japan. She proudly represented the US Olympics team in karate for the Olympics. Sakura is an eight-time USA National Champion and a six-time Pan American Champion.
In April 2021, she was verbally threatened by a man while training at a local SoCal park. Sakura felt compelled to share her experience and used her platform to raise awareness of AAPI-hate, reminding everyone that “... it could happen to anybody. And we all just have to be there for each other.”
Sunisa Lee, Hmong American
Women’s Gymnastics – Women’s All-Around
Being regarded as a highly decorated American female gymnast, “Suni” is no doubt one of the brightest stars of the 2021 Olympics with a total of 6 world championships and now, an Olympic medalist. She is the first Hmong American to compete with the US Olympic gymnastics team, bringing home a gold for the all-around, a silver for the team event, and a bronze in uneven bars.
At an early age, Suni’s father, John, was her biggest supporter who built her first balance beam because they couldn’t afford to buy one. The family was left devastated when her father had an accident and was left paralyzed days before the 2019 National Championships. Despite this tragedy, John encouraged her to push forward.
The Hmong community is a tight-knit community that supported Suni on her Olympic journey by raising funds to support her competitions. Although Suni’s family couldn’t attend the Olympic competition, they watched her performance at home with pride. She later tweeted a video of her family’s reaction to her winning gold with the text: “the people I do it all for.”
Jordan Windle, Cambodian American
Men’s Diving – 10m Platform
Long before Jordan dove from the 10 meter diving platform in the first round of the event’s finals, scoring five out of seven perfect 10s, he was adopted from a Cambodian orphanage by Jerry Windle who helped to nurse him back to health from malnutrition, scabies, and parasites. Although Jordan’s beginning wasn’t easy, he was surrounded by love and dedicated coaches, who supported his Olympic journey.
With a big heart and smiles, Jordan uses his platform to inspire others. After co-writing a children’s book with his father, “An Orphan No More: The True Story of a Boy,” a testament to their remarkable bond, Jordan returned to Cambodia to inspire the children by establishing the Jordan Pisey Windle Foundation to provide a nonprofit diving program for disadvantaged Cambodian children.
Other noteworthy AAPI Olympic athletes that proudly represented the Team USA are as follows:
Kanak Jha, Indian American
Men’s Table Tennis – Singles & Team
Lee Kiefer, Filipina American
Gold medalist in Fencing while in med school
Jay Litherland, Japanese American
Men’s Swimming – 400m
Collin Morikawa, Japanese American
Men’s Golf – Individual Stroke Play
Kawika and Erik Shoji, Japanese Americans
Men’s Volleyball Team
Erica Sullivan, Japanese American
Women’s Swimming – 1500m Freestyle
Justine Wong-Orantes, ChineseMexican descent
Women’s Volleyball Team
Lily Zhang, Chinese American
Women’s Table Tennis – Singles, Team
Laura Zeng, Chinese American
Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics – Individual All-Around
The AAPI athletes mentioned above have all come from diverse backgrounds. Despite having to endure any hardships or any anti-Asian hate sentiments back home, by competing in the Olympics as elite athletes, they’ve modeled to the world their uniqueness instead of seeing them through their race. May they be the shining light to all AAPIs who have been misunderstood or held back because of their race and culture. “Anything is possible” shouldn’t be a privilege to some, but a right for all.
