Puerto Rico at the Olympics

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Puerto Rico has competed at the Olympics as a separate team since 1948. The Puerto Rico Olympic Committee was created and recognized in 1948. Puerto Rico has taken part in every Summer Games since 1948 and began competing in the Winter Games in 1984, though they missed the 2006, 2010, and 2014 Winter Games. The island has won 12 official Olympic medals (2 gold, 2 silver, 8 bronze). Note: a bronze medal won by the Puerto Rico baseball team in 1988 does not count toward the official tally because baseball was an exhibition sport that year. The medals come mostly from boxing (6), track and field (3), tennis (1), and wrestling (2). When Puerto Rico wins gold, the island’s anthem La Borinqueña is played.

Key moments in Puerto Rico’s Olympic history
- 1948 London: Puerto Rico’s first Games with 9 athletes in 8 sports. Juan Evangelista Venegas won the first Olympic medal for Puerto Rico, a bronze in bantamweight boxing.
- 1952 Helsinki: 21 athletes; Puerto Rico’s basketball team finished 9th.
- 1956 Melbourne to 1968 Mexico City: The team grew and competed in more sports, including judo, sailing, weightlifting, and wrestling, but medals were scarce.
- 1976 Montreal: 80 athletes; Orlando Maldonado won bronze in light flyweight boxing, Puerto Rico’s second Olympic medal.
- 1984 Los Angeles: 51 athletes in 13 sports; boxing medals came again (Luis Ortiz silver, Arístides González bronze). The Games also marked Puerto Rico’s first time competing in Summer and Winter Olympics in the same year.
- 1988 Seoul to 2004 Athens: Boxing remained strong, and Puerto Rico continued to compete across many sports; the team did not win medals in some Games but kept building experience.
- 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta: Bronze medals in boxing continued (1992 Aníbal Santiago Acevedo; 1996 Daniel Santos). The basketball team remained competitive, and table tennis and badminton debuted.
- 2000 Sydney to 2004 Athens: Voting sports and notable wins continued; in 2004, Puerto Rico beat the U.S. Dream Team in basketball (92-73), a memorable moment even though there were no boxing medals that year.
- 2008 Beijing: The team had 22 athletes in 8 sports; women’s wrestling debuted for Puerto Rico.
- 2012 London: 25 athletes in 8 sports; two medals: silver in wrestling (Jaime Espinal) and bronze in the 400 meters hurdles (Javier Culson). Table tennis and other sports also appeared in new ways for Puerto Rico.
- 2016 Rio de Janeiro: 40 athletes in 15 sports; Puerto Rico won its first ever Olympic gold with Monica Puig in women’s singles tennis. Adriana Díaz and Brian Afanador debuted in table tennis, and basketball did not participate.
- 2020 Tokyo (held in 2021): 37 athletes in 15 sports; Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won gold in the women’s 100 meters hurdles, Puerto Rico’s second Olympic gold and first in track and field. Adriana Díaz and Brian Afanador were flag-bearers at the opening ceremony, with Puerto Rican competitors also advancing in boxing, judo, shooting, and swimming.

Overall, Puerto Rico’s Olympic journey has grown from a single bronze in 1948 to a proud presence across many sports, including two historic golds in tennis (2016) and track and field (2020).