Puerto Rico at the 2008 Summer Olympics

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.

Background

Puerto Rico is a large island on the northern rim of the Caribbean that is home to approximately 4 million people. It lies due east of the Dominican Republic and to the west of the United States Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico was first colonized by the Spanish, but was ceded to the United States in the wake of the Spanish–American War in 1898. Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship in 1917, although it remained apart from the United States and has a constitution that provides for self-government. 41 years after Puerto Ricans became American citizens, Puerto Rico sent its first delegation to the Olympics at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. The American commonwealth has sent a delegation to all sixteen Summer Olympics between then and the 2008 Beijing Olympics in addition to six Winter Olympic Games.

Between its 1948 debut and its arrival at the Beijing Olympics, Puerto Rican athletes had won six medals (one silver and five bronze). The last medal earned by a Puerto Rican was a bronze medal by Daniel Santos at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. No medals were won by Puerto Ricans at Beijing. During the course of the 2008 Olympics, 22 athletes represented Puerto Rico—17 men and five women—in eight sports (track and field, boxing, artistic gymnastics, judo, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, and weightlifting). The size of the delegation was 21 athletes smaller than the Puerto Rican delegation that arrived at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and 58 athletes smaller than Puerto Rico's largest Olympic team, which included 80 athletes participating in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal, Canada. The oldest member of the Beijing delegation was Lucas Bennazar, a sharpshooter, who was 39 years old at the time; boxer Jonathan González, in contrast, was the youngest at 19 years old. Boxer McWilliams Arroyo was the nation's flag bearer at the ceremonies.

Athletics

Men's team

Men's 400 meters

Félix Martínez participated in the Beijing Olympics in the men's 400 meters dash on behalf of Puerto Rico. Martínez competed at Beijing while he was 23 years old. He had not previously competed at any Olympic Games. During the August 17 qualification round, Martínez participated in the sixth heat, which included eight athletes. At the end of the event, Martínez placed seventh after achieving a time of 46.46 seconds. He ranked ahead of Poland's Daniel Dabrowski (47.83 seconds) and behind Grenada's Joel Phillips (46.30 seconds), while Great Britain's Andrew Steele (44.94 seconds) and Trinidad and Tobago's Renny Quow (45.13 seconds) lead Martínez's heat. Of the 55 finishing athletes, Martínez ranked 44th. He did not advance to later rounds.

Men's 1,500 meters

David Freeman competed for Puerto Rico at the Beijing Olympics, participating in the men's 1,500 meters race. He was 26 at the time of his participation in Beijing, which marked the first time he competed in any Olympic event. During the August 15 qualification round, Freeman was placed in the third heat versus 12 other athletes. He finished the event in 3:39.70, placing tenth. Nicholar Kemboi of Kenya placed behind Freeman (3:41.56), while Estonia's Tildrek Nurme placed ahead of him (3:38.59). The Puerto Rican runner's heat was led by South African athlete Juan van Deventer (3:36.32) and Spain's Arturo Casado (3:36.42). Overall, David Freeman ranked 25 out of the 48 finishing athletes. He did not advance to later rounds.

Men's 110 meters hurdles

Héctor Cotto Gonzalez participated for Puerto Rico in the men's 110 meters hurdles race, the only Puerto Rican participating in the event. Cotto was born in Fajardo, a city on Puerto Rico's far northeastern coast, and participated in the Olympics for the first time in Beijing at age 23. Cotto participated in the August 17 quarterfinals in the third heat, ranking sixth out of the heat's eight athletes after achieving a time of 13.72 seconds. He defeated Haiti's Dudley Dorival (13.78 seconds), but fell behind the Cayman Islands' Ronald Forbes (13.59 seconds) in a heat that was led by Colombia's Paulo Villar (13.37 seconds) and Barbados' Ryan Brathwaite (13.38 seconds). Of the 40 athletes who finished the event, Cotto ranked 28th. He progressed to the next round.

During the August 19 quarterfinals, Héctor Cotto Gonzalez participated in the first heat. He finished the event in 13.73 seconds, placing last in a heat of eight athletes. He fell behind Russian hurdler Igor Peremota (13.70 seconds) and Trinidad and Tobago's Mikel Thomas (13.62 seconds) in a heat that was led by the United States' David Payne (13.24 seconds) and the Czech Republic's Petr Svoboda (13.41 seconds). 30 of the athletes who progressed to the quarterfinal round completed their races; of these, Cotto ranked 27th. He did not advance to later rounds.

Men's 400 meters hurdles

Javier Culson Rodríguez (or Javier Culson Perez) participated in the Beijing Olympics on the behalf of the Puerto Rican track team, participating in the men's 400 meters hurdles. Culson was 24 at the time of his participation in the Beijing Olympics. He had not previously competed in any Olympic Games. During the August 15 qualification heat, Culson participated in the third heat, which was composed of six athletes. The Puerto Rican runner ranked fourth of the six athletes, finishing the race in 49.60 seconds. He ranked ahead of China's Meng Yan (49.73 seconds) and behind Poland's Marek Plawgo (49.60 seconds) in a heat that was led by Jamaica's Markino Buckley (48.65 seconds) and South Africa's LJ van Zyl (48.86 seconds). Of the 25 finishing athletes, Culson ranked 15th. He progressed to the semifinal round.

Puerto Rico's sole representative in the event participated in the first heat during the August 16 semifinal round, where he faced seven other athletes. Culson finished the race in 49.85 seconds, ranking last. South Africa's Pieter de Villiers ranked ahead of him in seventh place (49.44 seconds), as did Russia's Alexander Derevyagin, who ranked in sixth place (49.23 seconds). Culson's heat was led by American hurdlers Angelo Taylor (47.94 seconds) and Bershawn Jackson (48.02 seconds). Of the 16 semifinalists, Javier Culson ranked 14th. He did not advance to later rounds.

Women's team

Women's 200 meters

Carol Ann Rodríguez Taylor competed for Puerto Rico at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the women's 200 meters dash. She was the sole female Puerto Rican representative participating in track and field during that year. Born in Pomona, a northerly suburb of Los Angeles, Rodríguez attended the University of Southern California. She attended the Beijing Olympics at age 22, and had not previously attended any Olympic Games as a competitor. During the August 18 qualification round, Rodríguez competed in the second heat against seven other athletes, achieving a time of 24.07 seconds. Of those seven, six finished the event. Rodríguez ranked seventh in the heat behind Mariely Sanchez Hichez of the Dominican Republic (24.05 seconds) and Bulgaria's Ivet Lalova (23.13 seconds). She placed ahead only of Belgium's Kim Gevaert, who did not participate in the race. The leaders of Rodríguez's heat included first place finalist Muna Lee of the United States (22.71 seconds) and French second place finalist Muriel Hurtis-Houari (22.72 seconds). Of the 46 athletes who finished the race, Rodríguez tied Benin's Fabienne Fereaz for 40th place. She did not advance to later rounds.

Women's 400 meters

During her debut at the Beijing Olympics, Carol Rodríguez participated in the women's 400 meters race alongside her entry into the women's 200 meters dash. She was placed in the third heat during the August 16 qualification round, which included seven athletes in total. Rodríguez completed the event in 53.08 seconds, defeating Haiti's Ginou Etienne (53.84 seconds) but falling behind Barbara Petráhn of Hungary (53.06 seconds). The leaders of Rodríguez's heat included Russia's Anastasia Kapachinskaya in first place (51.32 seconds) and Mary Wineberg