Jaime Espinal

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Jaime Yusept Espinal (born October 14, 1984) is a Dominican/Puerto Rican freestyle wrestler and Olympic silver medalist who represents Puerto Rico.

Early years and education

Espinal is 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) tall and weights 84 kilograms (190 lb). He was born on October 14, 1984 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to Jaime Espinal and Alejandrina Fajardo Hernández. He has two siblings: Stanley and Rosemary. When he was 5 years old, his family moved to Puerto Rico. Espinal studied at the Baptist College and then Gabriela Mistral High School. He also began wrestling when he was nine years old when coach Pedro Rojsa approached him and other kids and invited them to Club Sparta in Río Piedras along with Franklin Gómez.

When he was 15 years old, Espinal and his mother moved to Brooklyn, New York. Espinal says he had to deal with racism and fights "every two or three days". After someone drew a knife on him during a fight, he decided to return to Puerto Rico alone. Espinal quit wrestling and began cheerleading and dancing. He reveived a scholarship in cheerleading from the University of Puerto Rico at Bayamón. Espinal continued college at Walden University in Pennsylvania. He completed a Bachelor's degree in computer design.

Jaime Espinal also worket as a model.

Before his international wrestling career, Espinal spent three years as a breakdancer for the Time Machine Squad, entering the group after winning a contest. In 2008, he went by the name of "Olimpic Jumps" as part of the group. During that time, he served as a backup dancer for hip hop artists like Daddy Yankee and Tego Calderón. He also practiced baseball and worked as a model. However, convinced by coach Rojas, Espinal returned to wrestling.

Wrestling career

To prepare for the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games, Rojas sent Espinal to train in Cuba for nine months. As a result, Espinal won gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

In 2011, Espinal finished in fifth place at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. That same year, he won silver at the Pan American Wrestling Qualifying Tournament in Florida.

The next year, Espinal continued to excel in the sport finishing third at the Romanian International Tournament, and winning gold at the Città di Sassari Wrestling Championship in Italy. That year, at the 2012 Panamerican Wrestling Tournament in Kissimmee, Florida, Espinal qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics^.

 2012 Olympics

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, Espinal began the first rounds by defeating Nigerian Andrew Dick and Georgian Dato Marsagishvili. On the semi-finals, he defeated Soslan Gattsiev, from Belarus, to advance to the final round against Sharif Sharifov, from Azerbaijan. In the match, Sharifov defeated Espinal 3-1 to earn the gold. Espinal finished with the silver medal. His medal was Puerto Rico's second silver in 17 Summer Olympics, and their second in London. Espinal received a US$30,000 bonus from the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee for winning the silver medal. Also, Puerto Rican dealership Bella International gave Espinal a 2012 Honda CR-V as a gift.

At the olympic Games in Lodon, Jaime Espinal showed the most spectacular technics of the freestyle tournament.

Video: Breakdance at Puertorican TV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZK_sTt4XPc