Uncertainty Surrounds Puerto Rico’s Athlete Representation and Medal Estimates for Santiago 2023 Pan American Games

Issues related to the date of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games and the fact that FIBA ​​does not endorse the basketball tournament, among other issues, has caused the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (Copur) to not have a final list of the athletes who will represent the country in the continental competition and who cannot offer an estimate of medals 30 days before the opening of the competition in Chile.

This was stipulated by the president of Copur, Sara Rosario, and the director of the High Performance Department (DAR), Fernando Olivero, who hope to have this information at the end of this month, after they examine the final list that they will send to the organizing committee of the Pan American Games and can see the athletes they will send from other countries analyzed.

Both directors stated this Wednesday during a press conference that this is not a situation exclusive to Copur, but also affects the Olympic committees of all the countries that will see action in the fair, which is scheduled to take place between October and November 5.

As of today, Wednesday, Copur reported that it had a total of 214 athletes certified – 122 women and 92 men – and had another 20 under evaluation. The sports entity estimates that the final delegation could reach 230 competitors.

Rosario explained that the final registration with the organizing committee expires on September 29, so the 27th of this month will be the last date on which Copur will have to review the list of athletes and it is expected that that day the final number of the delegation.

One of the most striking cases is that of the men’s basketball team, whose members were not announced.

Olivero argued that during the last two weeks they have worked together with the Puerto Rico Basketball Federation (Fbpur) to identify players who can make up the National Team. He acknowledged that the recruiting process has not been easy and explained that because FIBA ​​does not endorse the tournament, teams have not allowed professional players to play in the event.

“This creates another problem, they do not have a permit and secondly the insurance does not cover them. We have approximately more than 40 players participating in foreign leagues. The Federation is doing a commendable job trying to identify those 12 athletes. “We are in the process and that is why we are not giving any names yet,” said Olivero.

“Not only Puerto Rico has this reality, but also all the countries that are going to be participating,” Olivero added.

Carlos Arroyo, general manager of the men’s team, has expressed his desire to put together a young squad for the Pan American Games. (Ramon “Tonito” Zayas)

The general manager of the men’s team, Carlos Arroyo, has reiterated the interest in bringing young talent to the Pan American Games, as he did for the last Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, where the squad won the bronze medal.

Another situation they have had to work with is the reluctance of universities to give their student athletes permission to participate and that athletes such as sprint hurdler Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and decathlete Ayden Owens-Delerme have said they will not participate because The date of the Pan American Games affects their preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, scheduled between July 26 and August 11.

In fact, the places of these two athletes were rejected by Copur, as were 13 others in sports such as cycling, equestrian, golf, judo, open water, swimming pool and surfing.

It must be remembered that this edition of the Pan American Games does not take place in the summer. Likewise, it coincided with the San Salvador 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, which were on stage from June 23 to July 8.

The president of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee, Sara Rosario (right), along with the director of the High Performance Department, Fernando Olivero Lora. (MARCOS CABALLERO)

In the case of the analysis of the medals, Rosario said that we always want to improve the performance of the previous edition, in this case the one in Lima. However, they are still in the process of collecting all the relevant information to be able to give a real estimate.

“Our expectation as such is to always improve on our previous participation. It’s going to be difficult to overcome Lima, but we’re there. The High Performance Department still has to do the final analysis. We also have to look at the level of competitiveness of other countries,” said Rosario, who recalled that there are countries that have declined to participate in events, which also affects the analysis of the medals.

For the last edition of the Pan American Games, held in Lima from July 26 to August 11, 2019, Puerto Rico traveled with a total of 239 athletes and won 24 medals: six gold, four silver and 14 bronze.

Likewise, the DAR is in the process of analyzing how many Olympic places Puerto Rico could obtain. The Pan American Games will award tickets in handball, boxing, breaking, diving, climbing, equestrian, gymnastics, water polo, surfing, table tennis, shooting, archery and sailing.

2023-09-20 22:31:53
#preparation #mens #National #Basketball #Team #Santiago #Pan #American #Games #complicated