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.
Percy Morris Beard was an American college and international track and field athlete who specialized in the high hurdles event, and won an Olympic silver medal. Beard later became a nationally prominent college track and field coach at the University of Florida.
David Mark Everett is an American retired middle-distance runner who won the bronze medal in the 800-meter event at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo. The following year, Everett finished second in the US Olympic Trials in New Orleans behind Johnny Gray. A few weeks later Everett beat Gray at the Bislett Games in Oslo, setting a new personal best of 1:43.40. Everett and Gray went to Barcelona as favorites for the gold and silver medals. However, Everett did not finish the race and Gray won the Olympic bronze behind William Tanui and Nixon Kiprotich.
Martín López-Zubero Purcell, also known as Martin Zubero, is a former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. López-Zubero was born in the United States, swam in international competition for Spain, and holds dual Spanish-American citizenship.
Thomas Paul Pukstys is a former American track and field athlete who was a javelin thrower. Pukstys was a six-time U.S. javelin champion, and represented the United States at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics.
Hazel Mae Clark is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 meters middle distance race. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 2000, 2004 and 2008. She has won six national titles and two USA Olympic Trials events during her career.
Matthew Centrowitz is a two-time Olympic distance runner, a four-time United States champion, a collegiate All-American, a nationally renowned high school athlete, and a collegiate cross country and track coach.
Jeffery Barnard Demps is an American track and field athlete and former American football running back. He attended the University of Florida, where he was a running back for the Florida Gators football team and a sprinter for the Florida Gators track and field team.
Ronald Lee Jourdan was an American college and Olympic track and field athlete. Jourdan was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion in the high jump from Florida and member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team. Jourdan, along with Reynaldo Brown of California, were the last great American high jumpers to use the straight-leg straddle, the style which dominated the sport in the 1950s and 1960s. Jourdan's personal best was 7 feet 3 inches.
The Florida Gators track and field program represents the University of Florida in the sport of track and field. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gators host their home indoor meets in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center and their home outdoor meets at Percy Beard Track, both located on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The Gators track teams are currently led by head coach Mike Holloway.
Michael Dwayne Holloway is an American college track and field coach. Holloway is the current head coach of the Florida Gators track and field and Gators cross country programs of the University of Florida. He is best known for leading the Florida Gators men's indoor track and field team to three consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I national championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018, and 2019. Holloway's Gators won a fifth NCAA Division I indoor national championship in 2019. Additionally, the Florida Gators men's outdoor track and field teams won the NCAA Division I national championship in 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2017 under Holloway's leadership. In 2022, he led the women's indoor track and field team to its second national title and first in 30 years. In addition, Holloway led the Gators to a double NCAA title team slam, winning the 2022 men's outdoor track and field NCAA championship as well as the 2022 women's outdoor track and field NCAA championship, the first in program history.
Jack Strangl Bacheler is an American former long-distance runner and two-time U.S. Olympian. Born in Washington, District of Columbia, Bacheler was a founding member of the Florida Track Club at Gainesville, Florida in the late 1960s, and personally designed the club's distinctive "orange" logo. Standing 6 feet 7 inches, yet weighing only 165 pounds, he towered over most of his competitors. Now living in Clayton, North Carolina, he is married to Patricia Bacheler. Bacheler has two children, daughter Teresa (Teri), and son Matthew (Matt).
James Jerome Carnes was an American track and field athlete, coach and administrator. A successful coach at the high school, college and international levels, Carnes compiled a 161–11 career dual meet record, highlighted by four college conference championships and six state high school championships. He was the head coach of the U.S. Olympic track & field team and the Florida Gators track and field team, the founder of the Florida Track Club, and a member of the U.S. Track & Field Hall of Fame.
Anne Rochelle Steely Ramirez, née Anne Rochelle Steely, is a former long-distance runner who competed internationally for the United States. She specialized in the 3,000 meters on the track and later competed in road running events.
Andres V. Brandi is an American college and professional tennis coach. He is currently co-head coach of the LSU Tigers tennis team with his son, Chris Brandi.
Will Claye is an American track and field athlete of Sierra Leonean descent who competes in the long jump and triple jump. He won a bronze medal in 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the gold medals at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships. In his Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Claye won a bronze medal in long jump and a silver medal in triple jump. He repeated his silver medal in the triple jump four years later. His personal best of 18.14 m, set at the Jim Bush Southern California USATF Championships in Long Beach on June 29, 2019, ranks him as the No. 3 triple jumper of all time.
The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence during their college sports careers. The University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, is a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and fields twenty-one intercollegiate sports teams, all of which compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Keith Alan "KB" Brantly is an American former professional long-distance runner who contended in the men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Brantly finished twenty-eighth of one hundred and eleven runners who completed the race, in a time of 2:18:17. He is recognized for his extensive distance-running career that encompasses nearly three decades at distances that range from one mile to a marathon.
Tony McQuay is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters. He is a member of the 2012 and 2016 United States Olympic teams, winning a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay in 2012 and a gold in the same event in 2016. He is also a two time World Champion in this event.
Andrés Gabriel Arroyo Dominicci is a Puerto Rican middle-distance track athlete who specializes in various events. He competed for Puerto Rico at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships in Athletics in 2012 and 2014. He also appeared at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he ran the junior men's race.
Puerto Rico 
