Updates at bottom of the page. Scroll down please.
The Olympics held in London this year on July 27th to August 12 will have 35 Dominicans representing the country by competing in 10 different sporting events. The Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games is on Friday, July 27, 2012. The bearer of the Dominican Flag at the games will be Gabriel Mercedes.
Track and Field –
Men –
*Winder Cuevas and Felix Sanchez in the 400m hurdles
*Luguelin Santos in the 400m (one of the favorites that could win a medal)
*Carlos Jorge in the 200m
*Felix Sanchez, Luguelin Santos, Gustavo Cuesta, Arismendy Peguero, John Soriano and Joel Mejia in the 4 man 400 m relay
Women –
*Ildette Lavonne in the 100 m hurdles
*Marielis Sanchez in the 200 m
*Raysa Sanchez in the 400 m
Boxing –
*William Encarnacion – bantamweight
*Wellington Arias – lightweight
*Junior Castillo – middleweight
Gymnastics (woman) –
*Yamilet Pena (has a very good chance of bringing home a medal)
Judo –
*Maria Garcia – 52 kg
Shooting –
*Sergio Pinero – trap
*Swimming –
*Nicolas Schwab – Mens 200 m freestyle
*Dorian McMenemy – Womens 100 m butterfly
Table Tennis –
*Luis Lin Ju – men’s singles
Taekwondo –
*Yulis Gabriel Mercedes (he has a very good chance of bring home a medal)
Weightlifting –
*Yuderkis Contreras – Mens (He has a good chance of bringing home a medal)
*Beatriz Piron – Womens
Volleyball –
*Ladies Volleyball Team – Candida Estefany Arias, Milagros Cabral, Brenda Castillo, Bethania de la Cruz, Karla Echenique, Lisvel Mejia, Gina Mambru, Niverka Marte, Sidarka Nunez, Priscila Rivera, Cindy Rondon, Annerys Vargas.
You can see all the Dominican Republics athletics competing in the 2012 London Olympics pictures and profiles at www.london2012.com/athletes/country=dominican-republic
Do not worry about missing the games, especially when one of the people from DR are competing. Most all places that have a TV will be tuned in watching and showing support for the athletes from our little island in the Caribbean.
Some interesting Olympic facts relating to Dominican Republic:
*The Dominican Republic was represented for the first time at the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games by sprinter Alberto TORRES, who competed in the men’s 100m.
*Sprinter Divina ESTRELLA was their first female competitor. She took part in the 100m and 200m at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games and also at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.
*Boxer Pedro NOLASCO was their first medallist. He took bantamweight bronze at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.
*The Dominican Republic’s first Olympic champion was Felix SANCHEZ. He won gold in the 400m hurdles at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Boxer Felix DIAZ won gold in the men’s light welterweight division at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
*Republica Dominicana appeared 13 times in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This number includes this years London Games.
*We won 1 Gold metal in Athletics, 1 Gold and 1 Bronze in Boxing and 1 Silver in Taekwondo.
*Dominican athletes who capture gold at the London Olympics will receive a bonus of $10 million pesos, silver medal winners will get $6 million peso and bronze medalists will get $4 million pesos.
*The Ladies Volleyball players earned themselves many fans in London owing to their flamboyant, smile-on-the-face style.
*About 16% of gold-medal winners cried and 16% bit or kissed the medal. One quarter of women and 8% of men break down. When Felix Sanchez won the gold in 2012 he did both, bit and cried. Check out Sanchez incredible joy on this video – “Olympic Faces: Joy and Sorrow at the London Games”.
Update: On Aug. 6, 2012 at 4:30PM Felix Sanchez (born 8-30-1977) won Olympic Gold for Dominican Republic in the Mens 400M Hurdles. He won with his second best time of 47.63.
400m Mens Hurdles Olympics 2012. Dominican Republic Wins!
Felix Sanchez wins 2012 Olympic gold!
Luguelin Santos, the 19 year old from Bayaguana, earned the silver in the 400M with time of 44.46 (he lost by a half second). Dominican Republic has 2 medals now!
Santos got silver in the 400m at London Olympics 2012
The Dominican Republic Ladies Volleyball Team beat Great Britain in the quarter finals 3 to 0 but USA won over Dominican Republic with the same score, 3 – 0. Referring to Dominican Republic the retiring coach Cabral de la Cruz said “This is a very young team who played against one of the best teams in the world at a very high level,”
Read more about the game at Sports Illistrated.
london2012.com/country/dominican-republic/profile
COLIMDO – Comite Olimpico Dominicano
