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William Flaherty and Kellie Delka of Puerto Rico to Beijing 2022
Kellie Delka of Puerto Rico competes in the Women’s Skeleton during the BMW IBSF World Cup Bob & Skeleton in Winterberg, Germany. (Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
SAN JUAN, January 21, 2022 - Fifteen days before the opening of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (COPUR) gave all the details of the representation of William Flaherty and Kellie Delka in the event to be held from February 4 to 20, 2022. This is the seventh participation of Puerto Rico in the cold fairs and the second in a row.
COPUR PRESIDENT SPEECH president Sara Rosario opened the virtual press conference with an acknowledgement of the great participation the island athletes have had in the Winter Olympics since the first attendance at the event in 2018: “Once the registration and due process are completed, Puerto Rico will have two representatives in William Flaherty and Kellie Delka”, Rosario explained.
US-BORN ATHLETES MEET RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS Both athletes were born in the United States and met the residence requirement of 18 months or more, in the town of Río Grande, in order to compete for Puerto Rico, as indicated in the Olympic Constitution. William, the younger brother of Charles who represented the island in 2018, is registered in slalom and giant slalom. On the other hand, Delka will be the second woman to represent Puerto Rico; she will be competing in the skeleton.
CLASSIFICATION EXPLAINED (1) The director of the Department of High Performance (DAR) of COPUR, Fernando Olivero, explained the classification processes and the competition dates of the athletes for Beijing 2022: The first athlete in action will be Delka on February 11 and 12 in the skeleton. This is a sliding sport in which a person rides a toboggan down a track while lying face down and head first. Her classification was by world ranking. Puerto Rico obtained a place along with France, Estonia, Italy, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, South Korea, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
“The projection of results with her will be from position 18 to 24”, Olivero mentioned.
CLASSIFICATION EXPLAINED (2) On the other hand, Flaherty will be active in two events, slalom and giant slalom, modalities that due to their complexity are considered the most technical in alpine skiing. The 17-year-old classified Puerto Rico among the 61 countries that will participate, where other countries in the Americas stand out, such as the United States, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica and Peru. The competitions will be on February 13 in giant slalom and on February 16 in slalom: “At the moment, we have no projections with William. Those will be given once the final registration is completed”, explained the director of the DAR.
2 OUT 10 TO BEIJING 2022 The Puerto Rico Winter Athletes Federation had 10 athletes in the process of training and competing prior to the arrival of the pandemic. “We had several athletes drop out from the Olympic Games. There was not much opportunity to practice. It was a very varied delegation in sports and components”, explained Antonio Colón, federative president of the winter body. “The team that is going is a worthy delegation. They have been training hard for four years. They live here in Puerto Rico when they are not in competitions. They both live in the municipality of Río Grande”, stated Colón.
FULLY VACCINATED DELEGATION The chief of mission, Betsmara Cruz, reported that the athletes would be at the sub-venue in Yanqing, China. Like the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the athletes will be under health regulations, including daily sampling tests: “The delegation must comply with two samples in a period of 72 hours before leaving to Beijing, China. Sampling will be done daily in the Olympic village with an app to record symptoms, if any, on a daily basis. The Puerto Rican team is 100% vaccinated” Cruz said.
IMPORTANT DATES Among the most important dates are: the final registration of the delegation (February 1), the arrival of athletes (February 2), the Opening Ceremony (February 4) and the Closing Ceremony (February 20).
ABOUT PUERTO RICO IN WINTER OLYMPICS Puerto Rico's participation in the Winter Olympics will be the sixth of the 23 editions that the International Olympic Committee has held since 1924 in Chamonix, France. The representatives of Puerto Rico have been in Sarajevo 1984 (George F. Tucker, luge event), Calgary 1988 (Elliott Archilla in biathlon; Jason Edelmann, Félix Flechas, Walter Sandza, Jorge Torruellas, Kevin Wilson and Mary Pat Wilson in alpine skiing; and, Raúl Muñiz and George F. Tucker in luge); Albertville 1992 (John C. Amabile Jr., Liston Bochette, Jorge Bonnet and Douglas Rosado in bobsleigh and Luis González and Jorge Torruellas in Freestyle Skiing); Lillehammer 1994 (John C. Amabile Jr., Liston Bochette, Jorge Bonnet, José Ferrer and Douglas Rosado in bobsleigh), Nagano 1998 (John Amabile Jr., Liston Bochette, Jorge Bonnet, José Ferrer, Joseph Keosseian in bobsleigh and William Schenker in alpine skiing in, Pyeongchang 2018 (Charles A. Flagerty, alpine skiing).
COPUR PRESIDENT SPEECH president Sara Rosario opened the virtual press conference with an acknowledgement of the great participation the island athletes have had in the Winter Olympics since the first attendance at the event in 2018: “Once the registration and due process are completed, Puerto Rico will have two representatives in William Flaherty and Kellie Delka”, Rosario explained.
US-BORN ATHLETES MEET RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS Both athletes were born in the United States and met the residence requirement of 18 months or more, in the town of Río Grande, in order to compete for Puerto Rico, as indicated in the Olympic Constitution. William, the younger brother of Charles who represented the island in 2018, is registered in slalom and giant slalom. On the other hand, Delka will be the second woman to represent Puerto Rico; she will be competing in the skeleton.
CLASSIFICATION EXPLAINED (1) The director of the Department of High Performance (DAR) of COPUR, Fernando Olivero, explained the classification processes and the competition dates of the athletes for Beijing 2022: The first athlete in action will be Delka on February 11 and 12 in the skeleton. This is a sliding sport in which a person rides a toboggan down a track while lying face down and head first. Her classification was by world ranking. Puerto Rico obtained a place along with France, Estonia, Italy, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, South Korea, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
“The projection of results with her will be from position 18 to 24”, Olivero mentioned.
CLASSIFICATION EXPLAINED (2) On the other hand, Flaherty will be active in two events, slalom and giant slalom, modalities that due to their complexity are considered the most technical in alpine skiing. The 17-year-old classified Puerto Rico among the 61 countries that will participate, where other countries in the Americas stand out, such as the United States, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica and Peru. The competitions will be on February 13 in giant slalom and on February 16 in slalom: “At the moment, we have no projections with William. Those will be given once the final registration is completed”, explained the director of the DAR.
2 OUT 10 TO BEIJING 2022 The Puerto Rico Winter Athletes Federation had 10 athletes in the process of training and competing prior to the arrival of the pandemic. “We had several athletes drop out from the Olympic Games. There was not much opportunity to practice. It was a very varied delegation in sports and components”, explained Antonio Colón, federative president of the winter body. “The team that is going is a worthy delegation. They have been training hard for four years. They live here in Puerto Rico when they are not in competitions. They both live in the municipality of Río Grande”, stated Colón.
FULLY VACCINATED DELEGATION The chief of mission, Betsmara Cruz, reported that the athletes would be at the sub-venue in Yanqing, China. Like the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the athletes will be under health regulations, including daily sampling tests: “The delegation must comply with two samples in a period of 72 hours before leaving to Beijing, China. Sampling will be done daily in the Olympic village with an app to record symptoms, if any, on a daily basis. The Puerto Rican team is 100% vaccinated” Cruz said.
IMPORTANT DATES Among the most important dates are: the final registration of the delegation (February 1), the arrival of athletes (February 2), the Opening Ceremony (February 4) and the Closing Ceremony (February 20).
ABOUT PUERTO RICO IN WINTER OLYMPICS Puerto Rico's participation in the Winter Olympics will be the sixth of the 23 editions that the International Olympic Committee has held since 1924 in Chamonix, France. The representatives of Puerto Rico have been in Sarajevo 1984 (George F. Tucker, luge event), Calgary 1988 (Elliott Archilla in biathlon; Jason Edelmann, Félix Flechas, Walter Sandza, Jorge Torruellas, Kevin Wilson and Mary Pat Wilson in alpine skiing; and, Raúl Muñiz and George F. Tucker in luge); Albertville 1992 (John C. Amabile Jr., Liston Bochette, Jorge Bonnet and Douglas Rosado in bobsleigh and Luis González and Jorge Torruellas in Freestyle Skiing); Lillehammer 1994 (John C. Amabile Jr., Liston Bochette, Jorge Bonnet, José Ferrer and Douglas Rosado in bobsleigh), Nagano 1998 (John Amabile Jr., Liston Bochette, Jorge Bonnet, José Ferrer, Joseph Keosseian in bobsleigh and William Schenker in alpine skiing in, Pyeongchang 2018 (Charles A. Flagerty, alpine skiing).
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