Albergue Olimpico De Puerto Rico

Our Center was the result of the commitment and dedication of our visionary founder, who in a pivotal moment in the history of the Puerto Rican Olympic movement stood bravely in defense of its ideals when political dilemmas between Government objectives and Sports were generated in the years 1980 and 1984.During those years, Mr. Rieckehoff, together with a group of athletes requested financial contributions from citizens through a fund-raising campaign that was named “The Olympic Crusade.” The people of Puerto Rico responded with such generosity, and the campaign was so successful, that with a part of the funds collected Puerto Rico was able to send a delegation to the Central American and Caribbean Games of 1982 in Havana, Cuba and with the remainder of the funds the first 80 acres of the current facilities were acquired. The Albergue Olímpico was founded in 1983 by the leader of the Olympic movement, Germán Rieckehoff Sampayo, after visiting several sports training institutions in his travels around the world. At that time, Rieckehoff was the President of the Olympic Committee of Puerto Rico and a member of the International Olympic Committee. In 1985 the Government of the Honorable Rafael Hernandez Colón guaranteed economic allocations to the Albergue Olímpico and sports sovereignty of the country. For the first time, through Law No 3 of 1985, the Legislature placed the preparation of Puerto Rican athletes in the hands of the federations and the National Olympic Committee without the direct intervention of the Government.