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Olympic Medalist Returns Home To South Florida

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- It was a hero's welcome for three-time Olympic medalist Danell Leyva on Wednesday.

Leyva, 24, came home from the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Wednesday afternoon.

Miami-Dade Commissioner Jose 'Pepe' Diaz, flanked by dozens of Leyva's friends and family, hosted a hometown welcome for Leyva who lives in Homestead.

They chanted, "USA, USA, USA."

His grandparents, girlfriend and parents hugged him tight as he walked off the plane.

"Incredible, I was not expecting all of this, just my family and stuff and seeing them was amazing. They were definitely the first people I wanted to see when I stepped out of the plane," said  Leyva.

It was a proud moment for all especially his father Yin Alvarez who has trained him since he was 4-years old.

"I am feeling super happy. It was a very emotional year. We had to deal with a lot of things," said Alvarez.

And Leyva wasn't empty-handed in his return. He had two silver medals - making him the most decorated  gymnast from Rio.

"Unreal, very unreal," said Leyva.

Leyva - who is the first Cuban-American on the U.S. Men's Olympic's gymnastics team won the medals for the men's parallel bars and the horizontal bar at this year's Summer Olympics.

When asked how it felt to hold his medals in Miami, he said "pretty incredible."

But it's not the first time he's done this. Leyva won all-around bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

Another hero that came home from Rio too.

U.S. Water Polo goalie Ashleigh Johnson arrived on Tuesday.

Miami International Airport tweeted out a picture of the star.

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The Ransom Everglades alumni and now Princeton student brought home the gold.

As for what's next for the two, Danell says he has gotten a few offers in Hollywood and plans to move to Los Angeled for a few years.

When asked about Tokyo, he said to ask him again in two years. As for Johnson, she will go back to school. As for Tokyo 2020, she said she will think about it.

 

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