Related Research Articles
Sports in Puerto Rico can be traced from the ceremonial competitions amongst the pre-Columbian Native Americans of the Arawak (Taíno) tribes who inhabited the island to the modern era in which sports activities consist of an organized physical activity or skill carried out with a recreational purpose for competition. One of the sports which the Taíno's played was a ball game called "Batey". The "Batey" was played in "U" shaped fields two teams; however, unlike the ball games of the modern era, the winners were treated like heroes and the losers were sacrificed.
Raymond Dalmau Pérez is a retired Puerto Rican professional basketball player and coach. Dalmau played in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), the top tier basketball league in the country, for 20 seasons with the Piratas de Quebradillas. At the time of his retirement, at the end of the 1985 season, Dalmau was the BSN's all-time leader in points (11,592), rebounds (5,673) and assists (2,302).
The Puerto Rico national basketball team represents Puerto Rico in men's international basketball competitions, it is governed by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation, The team represents both FIBA and FIBA Americas.
Christian Dalmau is a Puerto Rican retired professional basketball player. He is the second son of the legendary Puerto Rican basketball star Raymond Dalmau. Dalmau has played in the NCAA, the National Basketball Development League, and the Baloncesto Superior Nacional in Puerto Rico. Dalmau has played internationally in Turkey, Poland, and Israel. Dalmau was a member of the Puerto Rican National Basketball Team that defeated the United States in the 2004 Olympic Games.
Puerto Rico competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fifteenth consecutive appearance at the Olympics.
Rick Apodaca is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player. Apodaca has played in the NCAA, USBL, NBDL, and the National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico (BSN) with the Arecibo Captains, Bayamón Cowboys, San German Athletics and Leones de Ponce. He also played professional basketball in Poland, Italy and Turkey. Apodaca was a member of the senior Puerto Rican National Basketball Team that defeated the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.
Mark Watring, is a Puerto Rican equestrian who in 2003, won a Gold Medal in the Pan American Games.
Raúl Papaleo Pérez is considered by many islanders to be the greatest Beach Volleyball player in Puerto Rico. He won the bronze medal in the men's beach team competition at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, partnering Ramón Hernández.
Jesús David "Jesse" Vassallo Anadón is a former competition swimmer and world record-holder who participated in the 1984 Summer Olympics for the United States. In 1997, he became the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. From 2004 to 2009, he served as the president of the Puerto Rican National Swimming Federation.
Juan Ramón Rivas Contreras is a Puerto Rican retired professional basketball player, and sports color commentator. Rivas was the third player from Puerto Rico to play in the NBA, and half of the first duo of Puerto Ricans to be active in the NBA simultaneously. Rivas has played in the NBA, NCAA Division I, and in the Puerto Rican National Superior League (BSN), with the Carolina Giants.
José Santori Coll was a Puerto Rican basketball player and coach.
José Juan Barea Mora is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player who plays for Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He played for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Northeastern University before joining the Mavericks in 2006 and becoming only the seventh Puerto Rican to play in the NBA. He went on to win an NBA championship with the Mavericks in 2011 before signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he played for the next three seasons. He has also played in the NBA Development League and the Baloncesto Superior Nacional.
Teófilo "Teó" Cruz Downs was a Puerto Rican professional basketball player. After playing college basketball, Cruz played in Puerto Rico's top level league, the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) with Cangrejeros de Santurce, Indios de Canóvanas, Mets de Guaynabo, Cardenales de Río Piedras, and Taínos de Mayagüez. Cruz also played in Spain with Picadero Damm, and in Belgium with Racing Club Mechelen.
Puerto Rico competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics which was held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The American territory with a population of four million people qualified 22 athletes in eight different sports. The appearance of the Puerto Rican delegation at the Beijing Olympics marked the commonwealth's sixteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics, and its twenty-second appearance at any Olympic games, since its debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. Of its competitors participating in events that involve progression by heats, six athletes advanced at least one round in their events, and two advanced at least two rounds, with Asunción Ocasio almost medaling bronze in taekwondo. However, there were no Puerto Rican medalists at the Beijing Olympics. McWilliams Arroyo, a boxer, bore Puerto Rico's flag at the ceremonies.
Javier Culson Pérez is a Puerto Rican athlete and Olympiad bronze medalist who specialises in the 400-metre hurdles. After becoming involved with the discipline in his late teen years, he entered the podium in some regional youth events, including the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. Culson is a two-time silver medallist at the International Association of Athletics Federations's (IAAF) World Championships and an elite contender in the Samsung Diamond League, where he finished second overall in 2011. He has also garnished medals in events with lower profiles, including the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Ibero-American Championships. He currently holds the record as "the world's fastest man" in that category. Culson also competed at the 2012 Olympics in London winning the bronze medal in the 400-metre hurdles race. In the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Culson made it all the way to the finals of the men's 400m hurdles only to be disqualified by a false start.
Neftalí Rivera Oliveras was a Puerto Rican basketball player who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics and in the 1976 Summer Olympics. He holds the record for most points in a game in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional when he scored 79 points on May 22, 1974. In that game he achieved the record by making 34 field goals and 11 free throws. He died on December 23, 2017, at Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, due to respiratory problems.
Puerto Rico will compete at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, in Nanjing, China from 16 August to 28 August 2014.
Ineabelle Díaz Santana is a Puerto Rican taekwondo practitioner, who competed in the women's welterweight category. She picked up a total of ten medals in her career, including two from the World Taekwondo Championships and a bronze from the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Diaz also competed for Puerto Rico in a demonstration event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and later attained a fifth-place finish in the 67-kg division at the 2004 Summer Olympics, narrowly missing out the nation's first Olympic medal since 1996.
Puerto Rico competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's eighteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics.
Puerto Rico is expected to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games have been postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be the territory's nineteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics.
References
- ↑ Drake, Sebastian. "Success: Fire To Gold - Entrepreneur Christian Claudio". Archived from the original on 2007-11-02.
- ↑ Drake, Sebastian. "1999 - 2000 Puerto Rico Team Olympic Team Trials Documentation".
- ↑ Drake, Sebastian. "Kay/Bassman Highlights Christian Claudio". Archived from the original on 2009-06-29. Retrieved 2010-03-17.