Ismael Delgado

Ismael Delgado was a 400 metre runner who ran the 4x400 for Puerto Rico at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Delgado studied at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras. Delgado was also on the 4x400 relay team at the 1950 and 1954 Central American and Caribbean Games, winning a silver medal in 1954. He competed at the 1955 Pan American Games.

Delgado served in the US Army in the Korean Conflict, where he earned two purple hearts. After returning from Korea he finished his baccalaureate degree and became a teacher in Aguada but he shortly thereafter went into sports administration and sports journalism. He was a sportswriter for the newspaper El Imparcial and El Vocero.

In sports administration Delgado was a delegate to the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee from 1968-79. From 1958-76 he served as President of the island’s softball federation, eventually becoming First Vice-President of the International Softball Federation from 1966-70. Delgado was a technical director for athletics at the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico, and from 1971-79 was secretary-general of COPUR, the Comité Olímpico de Puerto Rico. He was also a vice-president of the Central American and Caribbean Confederation in athletics.

Delgado was the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the International Softball Hall of Fame, and was installed in the Hall of Fame of Puerto Rican Sports.

Personal Best: 400 – 48.9 (1956).