A baseball player from Team USA is set to become the sixth athlete ever to win a medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics after defeating South Korea in a semifinal on Thursday.
Miami native Eddy Alvarez, an infielder for the Miami Marlins, has at least one hit in four of five games during the Tokyo Olympics and has been a stalwart defensively at second base. Team USA is set to win a medal in baseball and will come home with either silver or gold on Saturday.
Alvarez, 31, was seen with tears in his eyes while sitting in the dugout following the game. He will become the third U.S. resident to win a medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
“The journey. All the sacrifices I had to make. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to share this moment with,” Alvarez said, according to the New York Times.
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“It’s been a long time coming. I didn’t know my road was going to take me here,” the player added.
Upon the revelation that he will become the sixth person to ever win a medal, Alvarez said, “I still can’t believe it. But the job’s not done.”
Alvarez was a member of the 5,000-meter relay speed skating team that scored a silver medal in the 2014 Sochi games before making his shift to minor league baseball.
Following his move from speed skating, Alvarez signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox in June 2014 and eventually worked his way to play in the Class AAA International League with the Charlotte Knights in 2016 before making it to the Marlins in March 2019.
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Team USA will go on to compete against Japan for the gold medal on Saturday, Aug 7.
The U.S. won gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympic baseball championship against Cuba and took bronze during the 2008 Beijing Games.
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Tags: News, Baseball, Olympics, Winter Olympics, USA
Original Author: Kaelan Deese
Original Location: US baseball player to become sixth person in history to win medal in Summer and Winter games