Why does Puerto Rico have its own Olympic team?

NPR | By Alana Wise

Published August 9, 2024 at 2:39 PM EDT

Athletes of Team Puerto Rico are seen on a boat on the River Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris on July 26.

Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. So why does the island compete separately in the Olympic Games?

Well, the International Olympic Committee is in charge of deciding what entities are allowed to compete, and under those rules, Puerto Rico is viewed as independent from the United States.

That means, much like other territories—for example, Hong Kong—even though Puerto Rico remains a U.S. entity, with its own complicated political relationship to the United States; every four years, the island takes on the mainland as competitively as any other nation.

Since 1948, Puerto Rico has taken advantage of that status, consistently competing in the Summer Games and capturing 10 medals across a handful of sports.

At the 2020 Games, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn became the first Afro-Latino and the second person to secure the gold for Puerto Rico.

On Saturday, the 100-meter hurdler is set to defend her title in an event that includes American compatriots Grace Stark, Masai Russell and Alaysha Johnson.