Héctor Cotto González (born August 8, 1984) is a Puerto Rican

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

athlete specializing in the

110 meters hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hur ...

Background

Cotto was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. His family moved to Irondequoit, New York, where he attended East Ridge Senior High School. When his family moved to Cary, North Carolina, he attended Green Hope High School and graduated in 2002. At Green Hope High, Cotto played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, ran track and field, and earned several all-conference honors for track. His personal best for the 110 and 55 meter hurdles ranked him at 11th in the nation in 2002. As of 2015, Cotto still holds several Green Hope High School records in track. Cotto attended Fayetteville State University, but transferred to

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

after one year. While at ECU, he broke their records for the 60 and 110 meter hurdles.

Olympics

After graduation from ECU, Cotto began his professional career representing Puerto Rico. He competed in the 110 meter hurdles in both the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the London Olympics in 2012. He also competed in the World Athletics Championships in 2007, 2009, and 2011.

Competition record

Personal bests

Cotto holds the Puerto Rican national record for 110m hurdles and the 60m hurdles. Of hurdling, he says, "Running is the easy part. To me it’s always been about the technique. The ultimate goal is to be so efficient over the hurdles that you can let loose and just run when you race. That’s when hurdling is fun. That’s what all the hard work is for.”

Outdoors

*100m 10.37 (+1.4 m/s) (Walnut 2010) *110m hurdles 13.49 (+1.6 m/s) (Guadalajara 2011)

Indoors

*60m hurdles 7.71 (Flagstaff 2014)

Awards and honors

Cotto won the gold metal for 110m hurdles at the

Ibero-American Championships The Ibero-American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: ''Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo'') is a biennial athletics competition for athletes representing Ibero-American countries as well as a number of other Spanish- or Portuguese-spea ...

in 2010, followed by the silver metal for 110m. hurdles in 2012. In 2015, Green Hope High School inducted Cotto into the first class of their Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal life

As of 2015, Cotto coaches track & field at

William G. Enloe High School William G. Enloe High School, also known as Enloe Magnet High School or Enloe High School, is a public magnet high school offering Gifted & Talented and International Baccalaureate programs located in eastern Raleigh, North Carolina, United Stat ...

in Raleigh, North Carolina. He also helps train other coaches through his online ''Hurdle Rhythm Training Series,'' training workshops, and ''The Hurdle Magazine.''

References

External links

* * 1984 births Living people Puerto Rican male hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Puerto Rico Olympic track and field athletes of Puerto Rico East Carolina University alumni People from Fajardo, Puerto Rico People from Cary, North Carolina Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Puerto Rico Competitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics 21st-century Puerto Rican people {{PuertoRico-athletics-bio-stub