Sport in Puerto Rico
For the past several years, Boxing has remained the top choice of sports for Puerto Ricans along with baseball and basketball. Puerto Ricans have a strong tradition of road running races. Many important racing events are held every year in the island, including the Marathon de San Blas in Coamo and the Ponce Marathon.
Aristedes Gonzales, of Puerto Rico, boxes Joon-Sup Shin of South Korea during the 1984 Summer OlympicsPuerto Ricans have have been strong in both amateur and professional in boxing. Nero Chen became the first Puerto Rican professional boxer to gain international recognition. Puerto Rico was also the site of many championship fights.
Other notable Puerto Rican boxers include Wilfredo Gomez, Félix "Tito" Trinidad, Miguel Cotto, Wilfred Benítez, Héctor "Macho" Camacho, Edwin "El Chapo" Rosario, and Carlos Ortíz.Juan Evangelista Venegas Trinidad was a Puerto Rican boxer notable for winning Puerto Rico's first Olympic medal.
Other well-known sports in Puerto Rico include American football, baseball, fencing and horse racing.
The 1948 Summer Olympics in London is a remarkable event for Puerto Ricans because it was the very first time that they would participate as a country in a major international sports competition and the 1988 Winter Olympics was held in Alberta, Canada was the first time that a Puerto Rican team was sent to represent the island in an Olympic ski competition.
Below are details of sports, sporting events and sports people related to Puerto Rico. Is there something missing? If you know of something that should be listed here, please let us know.
Popular sports of Puerto Rico
- Baseball, basketball, boxing, road running, American football, football (soccer), tennis
Puerto Rico Sporting Success
- Mónica Puig won the first Olympic gold medal for Puerto Rico
Great athletes from Puerto Rico
- Nero Chen (boxing)
- Gigi Fernández (tennis)
- Javier Pérez (track and field)
- Juan Félix "Tito" Trinidad (boxing)
- Roberto Clemente (baseball)
- Rebekah Colberg (track and field)
Puerto Rico Sports trivia
- The 1948 Summer Olympics in London was the first time that they participated as a country in a major international sports competition.
- The first Puerto Rican woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal was Gigi Fernández, who won gold in the tennis doubles in 1992 and 1996. Although she was born in Puerto Rico, she represented the USA at the Olympic Games.
Puerto Rico at major events
- Puerto Rico at the Summer Olympics
- Puerto Rico at the Winter Olympics
- Puerto Rico at the Baseball World Classic
Past sporting events hosted in Puerto Rico
Upcoming sporting events in Puerto Rico
Annual sporting events held in Puerto Rico
- Marathon de San Blas in Coamo
- Ponce Marathon - held in December each year
Sporting Facilities in Puerto Rico
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