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Mario Morales Micheo is a former Puerto Rican basketball player. Nicknamed "Quijote", he was known for his ability to conquer both scoring and team championships in Puerto Rico's BSN league. He is the father of Evansville Purple Aces women's volleyball coach Fernando Morales Lopez. And he also played for the Villanova Wildcats Men's Basketball team in 1975–76 season where he averaged 4.7 points and 1.5 rebounds and Villanova went 16–11.
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.
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.
Puerto Rico competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. 29 competitors, 23 men and 6 women, took part in 31 events in 10 sports.
Ezequiel Paulón is a field hockey defender from Argentina who twice represented his country in the Olympics, in 2000 and the 2004.
Ivelisse Echevarría ) was inducted into the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame in 2003 and is one of Puerto Rico's greatest softball pitcher's.
Puerto Rico competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Ten competitors, all men, took part in nine events in two sports.
Puerto Rico competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. 27 competitors, 26 men and 1 woman, took part in 13 events in 6 sports.
Puerto Rico competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. 32 competitors, 30 men and 2 women, took part in 29 events in 8 sports. The Games were hosted from 11 to 24 October.
Teófilo "Teo" 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.
Rolando Cruz is a former pole vaulter from Puerto Rico. He trained under Jimmy Curran at Mercersburg Academy and Jim 'Jumbo' Elliott at Villanova University. He competed for his native country in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1956 and was the flag bearer for Puerto Rico in the 1964 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. He is a three-time gold medalist at the Central American and Caribbean Games: 1959, 1962 and 1966.
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.
Cape Verde competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Their participation marked their fourth Olympic appearance. Two Cape Verdeans competed in the Olympic games: Nelson Cruz participated as a marathon runner, and Wania Monteiro participated in gymnastics. Another athlete, Lenira Santos, was selected to compete in athletics but was forced to pull out due to injury. Monteiro was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Neither of the Cape Verdeans progressed beyond the first round.
Pablo Raul Lugo Cruz was a Puerto Rican boxer, who competed for his native country at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
Beatriz Cruz Nazario is a Puerto Rican female track and field athlete, who competes in the sprints events. She represented her native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics, where she was eliminated in the first round of the women's 4x400 metres relay competition, alongside Militza Castro, Sandra Moya and Maritza Salas. Cruz ran the third leg in the heat 2 race.
Angelo "Monchito" Cruz is a former Puerto Rican professional basketball player. He was born in New York. Coming out of the Patterson Projects in the Bronx, "Monchito" was a New York City Playground legend by the time he finished High School at DeWitt Clinton High School; he first played 2 or 3 years at All Hallows High, both in the Bronx. After playing at Bethany Nazarene College (Oklahoma) and Essex County College, he moved on to play professionally in Puerto Rico.
Heriberto Díaz is a former Mexican cyclist. He competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics and the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Heriberto de la Fe is a Spanish former swimmer. He competed in the men's 200 metre butterfly at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Fernando Luis Báez Cruz is a Puerto Rican male former weightlifter, who competed in the 56 kg category and represented Puerto Rico at international competitions. He won the bronze medal in the press at the 1969 World Weightlifting Championships lifting 115.0 kg. He participated at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the 56 kg event. He set four bantamweight press world records.
Heriberto "Eddie" Rivera is a Puerto Rican basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
References
- ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Heriberto Cruz". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
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