The "Batey" was played in U-shaped fields two teams; however, unlike the ball games of the modern era, the winners were treated like heroes and the losers were sacrificed.

The Spanish Conquistadores who conquered the island introduced various sports such as horse racing, cockfighting, dominoes and a game similar to "Bowling" called "Boliche".

American soldiers who organized games as part of their training introduced the sport of boxing and basketball to the people of Puerto Rico.

951) and as such Puerto Ricans who resided in the United States mainland were and still are permitted to participate and represent that country in international sports events.

The Taínos who inhabited Puerto Rico before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, played a series of games which were both ceremonial and diversional, such as races, contests involving body strength and fishing.

The 1948 Summer Olympics celebrated in London, was a historical one for Puerto Rico because it was the first time that the island would participate as a nation in a major international sporting event.

In 1980, the United States boycotted the Olympic Games in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Germán Rieckehoff, who was then the president of the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee, was against the boycott because he believed that politics should not get involved with sporting events.

Rieckehoff did however, manage to send one athlete to represent Puerto Rico in boxing, Alberto Mercado, who became the only American citizen to participate in the 1980 Olympics.

She became the first tennis player representing Puerto Rico to win a singles match in an Olympic when she beat Jelena Kostanić from Croatia (7–5 and 6–1).

[15] Pee Wee Football League This federation has 4 divisions, with areas in: Baldrich, Parque Central, University Gardens, Parkville, Ft. Buchanan, Carolina, and lastly Caguas.

[16] The league is played from January to March at "El Complejo Deportivo Roberto Clemente" in San Juan Saturday mornings.

[17] According to the daily newspaper El País, on 11 January 1898, the first organized baseball game was played in Puerto Rico at the old velodrome which was located at the Pda.15 in Santurce, San Juan.

Modern era Puerto Rico has over 100 Major League Baseball players who are currently active, in addition to the hundreds others who have participated in the past.

There are fourteen Puerto Ricans in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, they are Puerto Rico's first world champion Sixto Escobar, Wilfred Benítez, Wilfredo Gómez, Carlos Ortíz, Edwin Rosario, Pedro Montañez, José Chegui Torres, Joe Cortez (referee), Herbert "Cocoa Kid" Hardwick, Felix "Tito" Trinidad, Hector "Macho" Camacho, Mario Rivera Martino (writer), Miguel Cotto and Ivan Calderon.

[28] Other boxers from Puerto Rico which have excelled in the sport include: Carlos De Leon, Ossie Ocasio, Alfredo Escalera, Belinda Laracuente, John Ruiz who made history by becoming boxing's first Latin American world Heavyweight champion ever, after beating WBA world champ Evander Holyfield, Alex Sánchez, Samuel Serrano, Amanda Serrano (no relation), Ada Vélez, who is the first Puerto Rican-native Women's boxing world champion and Jose Miguel Cotto.

Chronological order of major events Among the international boxers who fought in Puerto Rico in a title bout are Muhammad Ali, Roberto Durán, and Alexis Argüello.

On 16 August 2003, Mark Watringl from the town of Aguadilla, represented the United States in the Pan American Games celebrated in the Dominican Republic.

Two of the most famous horses in Puerto Rican history were Camarero, a world record holder for consecutive wins, and 1976 Kentucky Derby winner, Bold Forbes.

In addition, many World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, formerly WWF) stars, such as Randy Savage, and Ric Flair fought in Puerto Rico before.

Sailing as a sport has picked up in popularity in Puerto Rico since the middle 1990s, under the leadership of Enrique Figueroa and his wife, Carla Malatrasi.

Ivelisse Echevarría who in 2003 was inducted into the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame is also considered by many to be the greatest pitcher born in Puerto Rico.

In 1966, 17-year-old Anita Lallande set a new record in the Central American and Caribbean Games celebrated in San Juan, when she won a total of 10 gold medals.

In 1938, she won two gold medals at the IV Central American and Caribbean Games, celebrated in Panama, in the discus and javelin events.

Even though Juan "Papo" Franceschi had been a drug addict at one point in his life, he set several national records on the track and had a street named after him is nis native San Antón, Ponce.

He went on to win silver and gold at the 110 metre hurdle event in the 1962 Kingston and 1966 San Juan Central American Caribbean Games, respectively, beating the then-fourth best runner in the world Víctor Maldonado in the latter.

[46] Puerto Rican athletes participated in the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, competing in the 12, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 metres, as well as relay and shot put.

[47] A survey in 2011 found that 75% of Puerto Rican university student athletes that attended private institutions of higher learning partake in this discipline.

[57] Nevertheless, other athletes, such as Rachelle de Orbeta, Luis Joel Castro, Grace Claxton and Ayden Owens failed to enter based on missing the ranking cutoff.

[59] During the 2020 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, both flagbearers of Puerto Rico's delegation, Yaimillie Díaz Colón and Carmelo Rivera Fuentes, who competed in the amputee and intellectual disabilities classifications, respectively, were track and field athletes.