RIO DE JANEIRO -- Anthony and Wanda Hernandez expected no favors as they gathered with the masses Tuesday to watch their daughter, Laurie, and her U.S. teammates compete in the women's gymnastics team final at Rio's Olympic Stadium.
They didn't get any, as an official directed the pair to the end of the line, despite some helpful onlookers' pointing out that they were the parents of a competitor.
It is how they say they raised their 16-year-old, the youngest member of the American team that captured team gold Tuesday night. Laurie's mother, Wanda, a school social worker, said with a laugh that they still feel a little like party-crashers.
"It hasn't hit us that, even though Laurie is part of this team, she's really part of this team," Wanda said.
If they weren't sure before Tuesday night, there was confirmation in the role Laurie played in the team gold, with scores of 15.100 on vault, 15.233 on beam and 14.833 on floor. But for the family of a girl who less than a year ago was competing for the junior national team, it is still a bit of a blur.
"It is very overwhelming," said Anthony Hernandez, a court clerk for the New York City Supreme Court. "It hasn't hit us. .... Everything is happening so fast. We don't have a chance to process. It's just a whirlwind."
Not so overwhelming, apparently, was Laurie's decision last week to forgo a college scholarship to Florida and turn professional.
"It was not an easy decision, but it was a decision she made, and we decided to support her," Wanda said.
"The first cent is going to go for college," Anthony said.
Both parents said Laurie was partly motivated by not wanting to take a spot on the Gators' roster that would better serve another gymnast.
"For her, it was giving others an opportunity to be able to shine the way she has," Wanda said. "She doesn't want to take the opportunity away from someone else."
As for the downside of being a professional on arguably the most famous team in America, there have been a few examples, the most recent being the rumor that a hamstring injury forced her out of consideration for the Olympic all-around competition.
The hamstring is fine, though Marta Karolyi said Laurie had a slight abdominal pull. Laurie and her parents were content to accept that it was a competitive decision that gave Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas the nod going into qualifications (the trio finished 1-2-3, but only two per country are allowed to compete in all-around finals).
"It's what Marta wants for the team," Wanda said. "It's about what our coach wants as well. At this point, we're all respectful and mindful, just grateful for this opportunity to be here. Lauren looks at all the Olympians and world champions, and they're the stars in her eyes. I don't think she has equated herself as part of the Olympians as yet. Neither have we."
These are not stereotypical soccer parents. Wanda has patently avoided getting overly involved, to the extent that she said she does not learn Laurie's routines.
"I'm going to see it through a mom's eyes," she has said.
On Tuesday, the two exchanged text photos of mother and daughter puckering up before competition.
"There are anxious moments, of course," Wanda said, "but she's having a ball."
For Anthony and Wanda, what was happening for their daughter began to dawn on them at the Team USA trials.
"She always dreamed of being on the floor and all the confetti falling down, and once she lifted her eyes and you could see her eyes with the confetti, it's like, 'OK, she's really there. Wow,'" Wanda said. "That was a proud moment."
Anthony said it hit him after the U.S. team was named and Laurie asked a security guard if her father could come down to the floor.
"When I came down, I was able to hug her and just congratulate her, tell her that we're so proud of her," he said while miming the ferocity of the hug. "That was a defining moment for me, where I was able to look at it and say, 'Wow, she's going.'"
Before he went down to the floor, Anthony said, he looked at Laurie's 20-year-old brother, and the two burst into tears.
"We just hugged, and we let it out," he said. "It was one of those things where we couldn't believe it. It was just a surreal moment that we're there, and we're watching all this going on, and people are actually cheering for all of these young ladies."
Cheering for Laurie.