Puerto Rico at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Last updated

Puerto Rico at the
1948 Summer Olympics
Puerto rico national sport flag.svg
IOC code PUR
NOC Puerto Rico Olympic Committee
in London
Competitors9 (9 men, 0 women) in 3 sports
Flag bearer José 'Fofó' Vicente [1]
Medals
Ranked 34th
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
1
Total
1
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

Puerto Rico competed in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain. Nine competitors, all men, took part in eight events in three sports. [2]

Contents

History

The first Olympic participation took place at London 1948. [3] Prior to the games, the topic of which flag was to be used was contentious. [4] Despite being tasked with reorganizing the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee, Julio Enrique Monagas opposed the participation of Puerto Rico in the games at first. [5] However, his work in the games, which included mingling with representatives of other countries, would be praised afterwards. [5] After participating under the United States flag favored by the colonial government at the 1946 Central American and Caribbean Games, a new flag bearing the Coat of Arms was used in 1948. [4] Since the American delegation was already present in the event, duplicity was to be avoided. [4] However, at London bearer Miguel A. Barasorda demanded that he was allowed to exhibit the flag of Puerto Rico, with Monagas claiming that Luis Muñiz Marín had banned its use. [6] This led to José Vicente becoming the last moment replacement. [4]

On July 16, 1947, Monagas made his ignorance of IOC practices obvious when he sent a letter admitting that the local committee was a government entity, at a time where political involvement was prohibited by the organization. [7] On September 17, 1947, he requested affiliation to the IAAF. [7] Otto Mayer demanded that it complied with protocol in a reply to the first letter sent a week later. [7] On October 1, Ernest J.H. Holt echoed this stance on behalf of the IAAF. [7] In January 1948, Puerto Rico's application was favorably received despite being affiliated to the government, giving birth to the COPUR. [8] At the United States, this caused some controversy along the likes of Dan Ferris. On March 25, 1948, Puerto Rico was invited to the London Games. [9] On April 15, 1948, the United States opposed the invitation. [10] This stance was later reversed, under unknown conditions.

At the Puerto Rico House of Representatives funding of $10,000 was approved for the Games, but governor Jesús T. Piñero vetoed it. [11] Despite causing controversy, Monagas sided with the governor. [11] As a civilian initiative was being organized, the politicians reversed their stance and supported sending the delegation to London. [11] However, a small delegation was sent as a formality, with no expectation of winning medals. [12] Monagas himself led the group, accompanied by trainer Eugenio Guerra. [13] The participation of Puerto Rico at the event gathered considerable media coverage from the likes of El Mundo . [13] A parallel political debate was waged in the media. [14] Upon the delegation's return, Piñero's stance had shifted to one of support for future participation in the Olympics. [15]

Medalists

MedalNameSportEvent
Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze Juan Evangelista Venegas Boxing Bantamweight (51-54 kg)

Athletics

Track events

EventAthletesHeatSemifinalFinal
ResultRankResultRankResultRank
110 m hurdles Julio E. Sabater 15.3=14Did not advance

Field events

EventAthletesQualificationFinal
ResultRankResultRank
High jump Benjamín Casado 1.84=21Did not advance
Pole vault José "Fofo" Vicente 4.00= 9th (T)3.95=9
José Celso Barbosa 4.00= 9th (T)3.95=9

Legend:
NP = Notable Performance
Q = Qualified for Finals

Boxing

AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsBronze FinalFinal
OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResult
Juan Venegas Bantamweight (51-54 kg) Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Callebout  (BEL)W PTSFlag of India.svg  Lall  (IND)W PTSFlag of Ceylon (1948-1951).svg  Perera  (CEY)W PTSFlag of Hungary (1946-1949, 1956-1957).svg  Csik  (HUN)L PTSFlag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Vicente  (ESP)W PTS Bronze medal icon.svg Did not advance
Clotilde Colón Featherweight (54–58 kg) Flag of Norway.svg  Gundersen  (NOR)W KO R1Flag of Canada (1921-1957).svg  Savoie  (CAN)L PTSDid not advance
Israel Quitcon Light-heavyweight (73-80 kg) Flag of France.svg  Roude  (FRA)W RSC R1Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Szymura  (POL)L RSC R3Did not advance

Legend:
PTS = Points
RSC = Referee Stop Contest
R = Round

Shooting

Rifle

EventAthleteQualificationFinal
ScoreRankScoreRank
50 m rifle prone George Johnson 59025XX

Pistol

EventAthleteQualificationFinal
ScoreRankScoreRank
50 m pistol Miguel Barasorda 50139XX

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "José Vicente". olympedia.org. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  2. ↑ "Puerto Rico at the 1948 London Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 103
  4. 1 2 3 4 Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 104
  5. 1 2 Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 106
  6. ↑ Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 122
  7. 1 2 3 4 Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 114
  8. ↑ Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 115
  9. ↑ Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 116
  10. ↑ Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 118
  11. 1 2 3 Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 119
  12. ↑ Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 122
  13. 1 2 Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 120
  14. ↑ Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 123
  15. ↑ Sotomayor 2016 , pp. 125

Bibliography


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.