Puig Talks Olympics With Telemundo
MIAMI, FL, USA – Before heading off to Puerto Rico next week for her big Olympic welcome, Monica Puig made a stopover in her hometown of Miami for a quick cuddle with her new dog Rio and the first leg of her media whirlwind.
While in town the gold medalist, who made history for her country by becoming the first Puerto Rican athlete ever to win a gold medal hit Telemundo’s Miami studios for her first televised interview since her big win in Rio.
Telemundo time!!!! ☀️? pic.twitter.com/N6yf54AWBQ
— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) August 17, 2016
“I’m still super emotional,” Puig told the morning talk show Un Nuevo Día. “I don’t even know how to talk about it because I still feel like I’m living a dream.”
“It’s been a long year with a lot of sacrifices, but everything’s worked out well for me so I can’t complain.”
Puig also shared the meaning of her social media rallying cry, the hashtag #PicaPower. The tag comes from the saying “picar piedras,” meaning “to break rocks” and is Spanish slang for working long and hard at small tasks for small rewards.
“You’ve got to break a lot of rocks to accomplish what you want,” she said.
? Ya está en casita @MonicaAce93 #PuertoRico ??primera medalla de oro olímpica #Rio2016 #TelemundoRio ??? pic.twitter.com/FYiqp8PjU1
— Un Nuevo Día (@UnNuevoDia) August 17, 2016
Puig was joined on the show by Grammy-winning merengue singer Elvis Crespo, who surprised her by dedicating a rendition of the iconic song “Qué Bonita Bandera” to the island’s new national hero.
The singer even performed an ode to her Olympic feat to a merengue version of “La Borinqueña,” Puerto Rico’s official anthem, which was heard at the Olympics for the first time ever last week.
¡Emoción total! Mónica Puig, acompañada de su mami y Elvis Crespo. Esta mañana en @UnNuevoDia #HolaUSA #PicaPower pic.twitter.com/0vhXxCvnvF
— HOLA! USA (@USAHOLA) August 17, 2016