Melanie Díaz González (born May 7, 1996) is a Puerto Rican

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

player. As of August 2019, she has been in position 88th with 3840 points in the ITTF Women's World Ranking.

Personal life

Melanie Díaz was born on May 7, 1996, to Bladimir Díaz and Marangely González and is the eldest of four sisters who also are table tennis athletes, Fabiola, Gabriela and

Adriana Adriana, also spelled Adrianna, is a Latin name and feminine form of Adrian. It originates from present day Italy and Spain. Translations *Arabic: أدريان * Belarusian: Адрыяна (Adryjana) * Bulgarian: Адриана (Adriana) *Chines ...

. Her paternal grandmother established and developed table tennis as a major sport in the mountainous municipality of

Utuado Utuado () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central mountainous region of the island known as the '' Cordillera Central''. It is located north of Adjuntas and Ponce; south of Hatillo and Arecibo; east of Lares; and west ...

, where her family grew up. Compared to other players at her level, she's trained and coached by her own father. Melanie is also cousin to table tennis player

Brian Afanador Brian O'Neill Afanador Pérez (born March 6, 1997) is a Puerto Rican table tennis player. On April 2, 2016, Afanador made history becoming the first Puerto Rican male table tennis player to qualify for the Olympic Games. On June 3, 2016, Afan ...

from her mother's side. She is a supporter and advocate of the

animal rights movement The animal rights movement, sometimes called the animal liberation, animal personhood, or animal advocacy movement, is a social movement that advocates an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, ...

and practices

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

Career

International rise

Melanie Díaz erupted onto the international arena by winning silver in the women's doubles alongside her sister Adriana during the

2014 Central American and Caribbean Games The 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games were held November 14–30, 2014 in Veracruz, Mexico.Sport page< ...

. In 2015, she won her first Pan American bronze medal in the women's team competition alongside Adriana Díaz and teammate, Carelyn Cordero at the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

. At the

2018 Central American and Caribbean Games The 23rd Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Barranquilla, Colombia. Asamblea ODECABE, Islas Caimán' (translation: "CASCO Assembly, Cayman Islands"). Published by CACSO on 2012-10-27; retrieved 2012-11-13. Bidding process Quet ...

Melanie Díaz scored two

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

. The first gold came from competing with Adriana in the women's doubles. The second came from playing in the female team alongside her sisters Adriana and Fabiola, and

Daniely Ríos Daniely Ríos Mora (born April 26, 1996) is a retired Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican table tennis player. As of January 2020, she has been in position 214th with 1660 points in the International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF Women's World Ranking. ...

. She also won silver in mixed doubles playing with Daniel González.

Turning point at Lima 2019

Melanie Díaz first attained individual international recognition during the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, where she was seeded #6 in the women category. She helped win the first Pan American

Table Tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

gold for

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

when playing at the Women's doubles beside her sister Adriana. Díaz also established her status as a separate international medalist by winning individual bronze at the Women's singles. She shared the bronze podium at this event's medal ceremony with Brazilian

Bruna Takahashi Bruna Yumi Takahashi (born 19 July 2000) is a Brazilian table tennis player. She represented Brazil at the Summer Olympics three times since 2016. She is one of the best Americas players in the ITTF world ranking, after Puerto Rico's Adriana Di ...

. Díaz finally played against Bruna Takahashi in a close and lively game during the final

women's team A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

, in which she helped earn one more gold for her team. Because of her playing skills in this match, international press nicknamed the female players of the Puerto Rican team as the "comeback kids."

References

External links