Source: www.slate.com - Saturday, August 13, 2016 On Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Monica Puig won Puerto Rico’s first-ever Olympic gold medal, beating Angelique Kerber in the women’s singles tennis final. Back in 2004, Alexander Dryer explained why a commonwealth of the United States has its own Olympic team. His original story is reprinted below. Following the lopsided 92-73 defeat the Puerto Rican men's basketball team handed the United States in Athens Sunday, many Americans were shocked. Not only did the U.S. team lose for only the third time in the history of its Olympic competition, it lost to a commonwealth of the United States. How can Puerto Rico, whose residents are U.S. citizens, field its own Olympic team? Puerto Rico can send athletes to Greece because the International Olympic Committee, the governing body that makes all decisions about the administration and operation of the games, has recognized the island's National Olympic Committee. Such committees are the official representatives of each Olympic delegation and are approved only after meeting criteria established by the IOC. But while the standards such national committees must meet are clear, the rules governing who can form them are considerably murkier. The Olympic Charter explains that "the expression 'country' means an independent State recognized by the international community," and the IOC recognized Puerto Rico as such an entity in 1948. Although the United States granted the island the right to elect i All Related
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