A San Antonio Army veteran is about to go on the trip of a lifetime: He has been chosen to be a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama at the Olympic opening ceremonies next week.
Gabriel Diaz de Leon said he was shocked when he got that call from the White House. He was asked if he would like to be part of Michelle Obama’s delegation and fly with her to London next week.
He said they asked him a lot of questions before giving him the green light.
"They want to know, 'How are you with your taxes? Do you pay everything on time?' he said. "I’m like, I don’t know what I got myself into. But I’m squeaky clean, so we're good to go."
This isn’t the first time Gabriel’s going to the Olympics, but it is as a spectator. He has a gold medal in the Paralympics games.
Gabriel broke the world record in the javelin in Barcelona in 1992. He also medaled in the shot put, the discus and archery.
He now coaches throwing to others for the Paralympics.
Gabriel was injured during his Army deployment in Honduras when his convoy was attacked. His Jeep was hit in the steering column and flipped.
He said that even though he was left paralyzed, he still felt that sports was his natural progression. Two years after his accident, he was competing in archery.
Gabriel said he's not sure why he was selected. He will be picked up next Wednesday and flown to Washington, D.C., where he will join the First Lady for the trip to London.
He will be her guest at the opening ceremonies that start Friday.
