The Dominican Republic first participated in the Olympic Games in 1964, when Alberto Torres de la Mota ("El Gringo" ) participated in the 10th heat of the 100m competition and ran 10.9sec, finishing 6th, not qualifying for the next round. The Dominican Republic has appeared in every one of the games since then. The Dominican Republic has never competed at the Winter Olympic Games.The Dominican Republic has won four medals at the Olympics. Pedro Nolasco won a bronze in boxing at the 1984 Summer Olympics and in 2004 Félix Sánchez won a gold in the 400 metre hurdles. In the 2008 Summer Olympics Manuel Felix Diaz won a gold medal in Boxing and Gabriel Mercedes won silver in Taekwondo.
They are represented by Dominican Republic Olympic Committee. The Dominican Republic Olympic Committee (Spanish: Comité Olímpico Dominicano) is the organization that represents Dominican athletes in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Pan American Games.
Félix Sánchez, (born August 30, 1977) is a Dominican track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meter hurdles event. He was the 2004 Olympic champion in the event and was world champion in 2001 and 2003. He is nicknamed "Super Felix", "the Invincible" and "the Dictator".
At the 2003 Pan American Games, Sánchez won the Dominican Republic's first gold medal at the competition and also broke the Pan American Games record in the 400 m hurdles. He was named Track and Field News Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 2003. Subsequently, he won the first ever Olympic gold medal for the Dominican Republic on 28 August 2004 during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. During his 43-race winning streak, from 2001 to 2004, Sánchez was known for wearing a wristband while competing. The red flashing wristband, a souvenir from the 2000 Olympics, served as a motivation for him after failing to advance to the final in Sydney. After winning the Olympic gold medal in Athens 2004, Sánchez gave the wristband to the IAAF for auction and the profits were donated to charity. In his first race after the Olympics - and his first race without the wristband - at the Van Damme Memorial meet in Brussels, Sánchez injured his leg and had to abandon the race halfway through.
At the 2003 Pan American Games, Sánchez won the Dominican Republic's first gold medal at the competition and also broke the Pan American Games record in the 400 m hurdles. He was named Track and Field News Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 2003. Subsequently, he won the first ever Olympic gold medal for the Dominican Republic on 28 August 2004 during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. During his 43-race winning streak, from 2001 to 2004, Sánchez was known for wearing a wristband while competing. The red flashing wristband, a souvenir from the 2000 Olympics, served as a motivation for him after failing to advance to the final in Sydney. After winning the Olympic gold medal in Athens 2004, Sánchez gave the wristband to the IAAF for auction and the profits were donated to charity. In his first race after the Olympics - and his first race without the wristband - at the Van Damme Memorial meet in Brussels, Sánchez injured his leg and had to abandon the race halfway through.
Manuel Félix Díaz Guzman (born 10 December 1983) is a professional boxer from the Dominican Republic who won Olympic Gold in 2008. Díaz Guzman had also won the bronze medal in the same division in 2003, at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo.
The aggressive southpaw brawler participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics for his native Caribbean country. There he was stopped in the first round of the Lightweight (60 kg) division by Kazakhstan's eventual bronze medalist Serik Yeleuov. At the PanAm Games 2007 he lost the quarterfinal 12:13 to Inocente Fiss. He qualified for the 2008 Olympics by defeating Myke Carvalho 8:6. In Beijing though, he won all five bouts and sensationally won Gold against reigning champion Manus Boonjumnong of Thailand. It was the nation's second ever Olympic gold after Félix Sánchez in 2004 and the second boxing medal after Pedro Nolasco won a bronze in Los Angles in 1984.
We here at the Dominican Heritage Foundation would like to extend our well
wishes to all athletes participating in the 2012 Olympics.
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