Puerto Rico Olympic Committee
Encyclopedia
The Puerto Rico Olympic Committee ( Comité Olímpico de Puerto Rico (COPUR)) is the National Olympic Committee
National Olympic Committee
National Olympic Committees are the national constituents of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, they are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games...

 for Puerto Rico. It oversees Olympic-sports in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, and selects the Olympic team which represents the island. It was founded in 1948 by Julio Enrique Monagas
Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park
The Parque Familiar Julio Enrique Monagas is Puerto Rico's largest passive park. It is located in barrio Bucaná, Ponce, Puerto Rico, on the banks of rivers Bucaná and Portugués...

.

COPUR operates two major facilities:
  • the Casa Olímpica, its headquarters in Old San Juan, and
  • the Albergue Olímpico
    Albergue Olímpico
    The Albergue Olímpico German Rieckehoff Sampayo or Olympic Hostel is an athletic training and recreational center located in Salinas, Puerto Rico. It is the most complete sports center in Puerto Rico used by professional athletes and by the general public for health, educational, and recreational...

    , Olympic training facilities in Salinas
    Salinas, Puerto Rico
    Salinas is a small municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico located in the southern coast of the island, south of Aibonito and Cayey; southeast of Coamo, east of Santa Isabel; and west of Guayama...

    .


Teams representing Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico at the Olympics
Puerto Rico first participated at the Olympic Games in 1948, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then. Notably, despite being an insular area of the United States, Puerto Rico did not fully participate in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, as...

 have participated in every Summer Olympics since 1948, including the 1980 Summer Olympics
Puerto Rico at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Puerto Rico competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. Notably, the nation did not fully participate in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics...

 in Moscow, Russia--despite the US-led boycott of those Games. They have also participated at the 1984-2002 Winter Olympics.

As of 2010, David Bernier is the president of COPUR. Past presidents include the island's first Puerto Rican Governor, Jesús T. Piñero
Jesus T. Piñero
Jesús Toribio Piñero Jiménez was the first native Puerto Rican to be appointed governor of Puerto Rico by the Government of the United States.-Early years:...

; Héctor Cardona; Germán Rieckehoff
German Rieckehoff
Germán Rieckehoff , was a President of the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee.-Early years:Rieckehoff, , born in Vieques, Puerto Rico. He was raised in a homestead owned by his parents...

, whose remains are buried at the Albergue Olímpico; and José Enrique Arrarás
José Enrique Arrarás
José Enrique Arrarás Mir is a notable Puerto Rican politician.- Early life :Arrarás was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He obtained his primary and secondary education at Immaculate Conception Academy in Mayagüez and Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.- Education :He obtained a B.A...

.
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