The Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (Copur) announced this Tuesday that it will grant for the first time as “Recognition of Excellence” a remuneration of up to $3,000 to the 199 athletes who won medals at the San Salvador 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games.
“Those who have obtained gold will receive 3,000 dollars per athlete, 2,000 dollars for silver, and 1,000 per athlete for bronze,” explained the president of Copur, Sara Rosario during a tribute to her delegation, noting that of the 404 Puerto Rican athletes who attended the games, 199 stood on the podium.
“I think our athletes did as high as we expected,” Rosario remarked to EFE.
Puerto Rico finished with 96 medals, four less than Copur’s goal, divided into 25 gold, 27 silver and 44 bronze, the sixth best total among the countries participating in the competition.
The 25 gold medals are the most won by Puerto Rico in JCC since 1990, except in Mayagüez 2010, when they won 48.
“It’s nice to have the opportunity to compete there and get a good result, so I’m super happy,” Judo player Adrián Gandía, who at 25 years old won a gold medal in these games, told EFE, adding that he is “very proud of the team” from Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rican men’s baseball and basketball teams that stood out in other games this time were left without medals, something that Rosario said that “there are sports that we really expected and they themselves hoped to obtain better results.”
“Baseball obviously, being the gold medal winner in Barranquilla, obviously there were expectations but unfortunately it was not achieved,” Rosario commented, adding that “it is one of the toughest tournaments because at the continent level, the best countries in the world are here playing baseball “.
On the other hand, the Olympic leader of Puerto Rico highlighted the Puerto Rican athlete Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the only one from the delegation that qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, after winning gold in the 100-meter hurdles.
Fifteen of the 25 gold medals were won by women, which Rosario stressed that women’s sport “is present.”
In the same way, Rosario affirmed that this delegation with 96 medals was the second with the most growth in medals compared to the Barranquilla Games when it obtained 87.
San Salvador put out the fire of the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games on Sunday, which left Mexico at the top of the medal table, thus passing the baton to Santo Domingo, which will organize the regional fair in the summer of 2026.
The Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador left Mexico at the top of the medal table, with 145 gold, 108 silver and 100 bronze medals, for a total of 353, its best mark since Mayagüez 2010, when it achieved 384.
El Salvador hosted these games after Panama declined the organization as a result of the covid-19 pandemic and Mayagüez (Puerto Rico), which was competing with the Salvadorans for the venue, will withdraw its candidacy.