Puerto Rico Olympic Committee President (COBOR), Sarah Rosario Velez, and Director of the Department of High Performance (DAR), Fernando Olivero, Jr., gave details of the training camp in Finland ahead of the Olympics. from Tokyo.

After several months of searching for the perfect venue to open its doors to a Puerto Rican delegation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic before they arrived in Japan, Rosario Velez and Olivero explained that the Bagulati Olympic Training Center, located in the Finnish city of Nastola, will receive approximately two dozen athletes from the Puerto Rican delegation who will begin in adapting to schedule changes and will give the final touches to their preparation.

“The selection process in Finland was based on two things: one, availability because no other (country) was available. But not necessarily because it was available, we would choose anywhere. An inspection visit was made for that and we understand that it is a good option. It is a camp that meets the requirements in terms of Comfort, food, medical services and service availability,” Rosario Velez crossed Thursday during a virtual press conference.

A medical team and advanced support team from Copur will arrive on July 9th, athletes with their coaches and springs partners On the eleventh they will start traveling to Finland. The camp will be closed between July 24 and 25, although there is a possibility that it will run until July 30 with certain athletes.

In Finland — which is nine hours from Tokyo — nearly all of the athletes ranked so far will be attended, except for diver Rafael Quintero, jersey Veronica Toro, sailors Enrique “Koike” Figueroa and Gretchen Ortiz, Amazons Lauren Billys and 12 members of the basketball team.

Puerto Rico has – at the moment – 34 ranked athletes. But there are still athletes looking to rank in athletics, golf, swimming and men’s basketball.

Athletes will leave Finland for Japan, depending on when they enter the Olympic Village and the start date of the competition.

“We feel relaxed and happy. We are sure that our athletes will be well taken care of and will arrive in the best possible conditions on Japanese soil. This is our main goal. In addition to team cohesion and keeping your health safe,” said Olivero, who traveled to Finland two weeks ago to visit the training center. Although many athletes are vaccinated, we want to protect them well.

Olivero commented that the Bagulati Olympic Training Center had a “very strict” health protocol and that Puerto Rico would have a special area to set it up.

(In addition) there is a willingness to serve and love ourselves there, which is essential to us. The manager added that they would facilitate the whole process and the logistics of the presence of our delegation.

This is not the first time Puerto Rico has held a similar camp. For London 2012, Cobor was set up in Canterbury and for Rio 2016 it was established at a military base near Olympic Village.

This camp was coordinated in Finland in agreement with the presidents of the federation and coaches for Puerto Rican athletes.