John Orozco, a 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnast who left the sport after tearing an ACL three weeks before the Rio Games, is returning as a Puerto Rican.
Orozco’s nationality switch was approved by the International Gymnastics Federation, it announced on Monday. Orozco’s parents were born in Puerto Rico before immigrating to the Bronx.
“I have the goal of just being able to represent the place that my family’s from,” Orozco said, according to the Olympic Channel. “I never got to do that, and I feel more connected to my community and the people that represent me.