In 1949, a virtually unknown Mexican-American named Richard “Pancho” Gonzalez startled the all-white country club tennis world by winning the United States National championship, which two decades later became the U.S. Open.

It was the first known major achievement by a Latino in American sports – celebrated by Hispanics in Gonzalez’ hometown in Los Angeles and throughout the Southwest that September during Mexican Independence festivities in the U.S.

Today Pancho Gonzalez’s triumph is just one of numerous such sporting accomplishments being commemorated by American Latinos during Hispanic Heritage Month.

But Gonzalez’s record-setting victory more than six decades ago was also the benchmark among handful of incredible feats by Latino athletes who made names for themselves against incredible odds.

Among those:

Lee Trevino, U.S. Open Golf Champion, 1968

Like Gonzalez, Trevino was also largely self-taught in a sport that was almost exclusively for the country club set. He was a golf driving range pro, much like the fictional character in the romantic comedy film “Tin Cup” who went through the arduous process of qualifying for the U.S. Open in 1966 and 1967.

Then in 1968, at the Oak Hill Country Club, in Rochester, New York, Trevino made storybook history when he won the U.S. Open, finishing four strokes ahead of the legendary Jack Nicklaus.

He went on to win five more major championships in his career, including the U.S. Open again in 1971, the British Open in 1971 and 1974 and the PGA title in 1974 and 1984.

Trevino’s best year was 1971, winning his second U.S. Open when he defeated Nicklaus in a dramatic 18-hole playoff. Two weeks later, he captured the Canadian Open and the next week won his first British Open.

Winning those three titles in one year also was a first, and Trevino was awarded the Hickok Belt emblematic of being top professional athlete of 1971.

Jim Plunkett, Heisman Trophy Winner, 1970

Because of his non-Spanish surname, most people outside California weren’t aware that Plunkett was Latino. But he was born to Mexican-American parents, and his surname came from an Irish-German great-grandfather on his father’s side.

Plunkett rose to prominence as a quarterback at Stanford where in his senior year he beat out two high-profile quarterbacks — Notre Dame’s Joe Theismann and Archie Manning of Ole Miss – to win the Heisman, awarded annually to the top college football player in the country.

He also received the Maxwell Award for the nation’s best quarterback and was named player of the year by United Press International, The Sporting News, and SPORT magazine.

It was an unprecedented achievement for a young man who had grown up working odd jobs to help support a family in which his mother was blind and his father was afflicted with progressive blindness.

In 1980, Plunkett led the Oakland Raiders to the NFL Super Bowl championship, becoming the first and only Latino to quarterback win a Super Bowl and to be named the Super Bowl MVP.

Nancy Lopez, LPGA Champion and Hall of Famer

In the 1970s and 1980s, Nancy Lopez accomplished for Hispanics in women’s golf what Trevino had done for Latino men. She dominated women’s golf as few others have.

Lopez made history as a 12-year-old, winning the New Mexico Women’s Amateur and then the U.S. Girls’ Junior in 1972 and 1974, at ages 15 and 17, respectively.

When she turned pro in 1978, Lopez won nine tournaments in her first year, including at one stretch, five tournaments in a row to become LPGA Rookie of the Year, LPGA Player of the Year and the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.

There wasn’t much in golf she didn’t win or succeed in doing.

In 1979, she won another eight tournaments and continued winning, slowed down only by childbirth.

Lopez won the LPGA Championship in 1978, 1985, and 1989.

Her only regret, she said in an interview was never winning the U.S. Women’s Open, finishing second four times.

Oscar De La Hoya, Ten Time World Boxing Champion

Known as “The Golden Boy,” De La Hoya became the most famous – and richest – Latino in boxing history who returned the sport to the glamor it had slowly lost after the retirement of Muhammad Ali.

De La Hoya came to prominence in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where he used his mother’s death to cancer as personal motivation for an upset in winning a gold medal.

His good looks, Golden Boy image and talent helped television make him a major sports star when he turned professional. There had been other Latino fighters, some perhaps even better and fiercer, but De La Hoya epitomized the American Dream and openly embraced it as well.

In his career, De La Hoya defeated 17 world champions and won 10 world titles in six different weight divisions, gaining the kind of fame and recognition that only heavyweight champions had been able to do in the past.

De La Hoya also did what no other fighter, Latino or not, had done in a sport where so many ended up poor and broke. He generated more money than any other boxer in history, earning almost $700 million in pay-per-view income alone.

Originally published on VOXXI as Celebrating Latino ground breakers in sports

Earlier on HuffPost:

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  • Cuba: Ramón “El Nunca Segundo” Fonst Segundo

    At the 1900 Paris Olympics, 17-year-old Fonst won the gold in Fencing and became the first ever Latin-American to win a medal at the games. The Cuban athlete went on to win three more gold medals at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics in Men’s Foil (Individual), Men’s Foil (Team) and Men’s Épée (Individual).

  • Cuba: Alberto “El Caballo” Juantorena

    At the 1976 Montréal Olympics, with his renowned nine yard stride, Juantorena became the first runner to win the gold in both the 400 meter and 800 meter races within the same Olympic Games.

    Considered an impressive feat since <a href=”http://www.olympic.org/alberto-juantorena” target=”_hplink”>one is a sprint while the other is a tactical middle-distance race</a>. The Cuban athlete was voted World Athlete of the Year in 1976 and 1977.

  • Panama: Irving Saladino

    Panama’s first and only Olympic gold medalist. Saladino won the coveted medal in the Long Jump event at the 2008 Beijing games with a 8.34 meter jump. He became the 2007 World Champion at Osaka by overcoming Italian Long Jumper Andrew Howe in his last jump (see video).

  • Ecuador: Jefferson Pérez

    Pérez won Ecuador’s first gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games for the Men’s 20 Km Walk. The South American athlete set the world record for walking at the 2003 World Championships in Paris with a time of 1:17:21. In 2007, he became the first man to win three consecutive world titles for the 20 Km race. Pérez is also a three time gold medalist for the 20 Km race at the Pan American Games (1995, 2003, 2007) and a Silver medal holder for the same event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games–the last before his retirement.

  • Cuba: Teófilo Stevenson Laurence

    Considered by many to have been the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time–something the athlete was never able to prove due Cuba’s rules against its athletes competing professionally. He was one of three men to win three olympic gold medals in boxing, (1972, 1976, 1980) Hungary’s László Papp and Cuba’s Félix Savón being the other two. For years American promoters offerred Stevenson money to fight against professionals like Mohammed Ali. The Cuban repeatedly declined the offers, famously stating: <a href=”http://articles.cnn.com/2012-06-11/americas/world_americas_cuba-boxer-teofilo-stevenson-obit_1_teofilo-stevenson-cuban-athletes-cuban-boxing-legend?_s=PM:AMERICAS” target=”_hplink”>”What is $1 million compared to the love of 8 million Cubans?”</a>

    In June 2012, the boxer passed away at the age of 60.

  • Cuba: Félix Savón Fabré

    Frequently compared to his countryman Teófilo Stevenson, Savón was also able to win three Olympic gold medals (1992, 1996, 2000) in boxing. Some believe he might have won a fourth medal if Cuba had not boycotted the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. As a Cuban native, the athlete was likewise unable to compete professionally, nevertheless he is the only boxer to win six successive amateur world titles.

  • Brazil: Adhemar Ferreira da Silva

    At the 1952 Olympic Games in Finland, da Silva won the gold in the Triple Jump event–a feat he repeated at the 1956 Melbourne games.

    Though he began his Olympic debut in 1948 by placing eighth in the event, da Silva broke the 14 year-old world record for the triple jump (set by Naoto Tajima) two years later. In Finland, he broke his own record twice, winning the gold with a 16.22m jump.

  • Brazil: Torben “Turbine” Grael

    Two gold, one silver, and two bronze make Grael the sailor with the most Olympic medals for Sailing in the world. His first gold was achieved at the 1996 Atlanta Games, the second in Athens during the 2004 games. Grael has four World Championship titles and in 2008-2009 he and his crew (the Ericsson 4 team) won the Volvo Ocean Race, a nine month long yacht race around the world.

  • U.S.A: Dara Torres

    At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Torres became the oldest swimmer to ever compete. With 12 medals (4 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Bronze) spread throughout 5 Olympic games starting in 1984, the athlete–born to a Cuban father–holds the longest successful career as an Olympic swimmer. When she wasn’t competing as an Olympian, Torres appears on several networks as a commentator as well as became the first female athlete to be apart of the <em>Sports Illustrated’s</em> Swimsuit issue.

  • U.S.A: Pablo Morales

    Son to Cuban Immigrants, Morales made history at the 1984 Olympic Trials by setting the world record in the 100 meters butterfly event. In Los Angeles, he and his teammates won the gold and set the world record in the 4 x 100 meters medley relay with a time of 3:39.30. That same year he was named World Swimmer of the Year, and he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame three years later. His Olympic Career, which ended at the 1992 Barcelona Games, gave him three gold medals and two silver medals.

  • U.S.A: Oscar De La Hoya

    The “Golden Boy” may only have one Olympic medal, but the Mexican-American fighter won the gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games to fulfill a promise he had made to his mother, who died of cancer. Once he turned professional, De La Hoya won ten world titles in six different divisions.