This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.

Thousands of Puerto Ricans woke up this morning (Friday 03rd August 2012) to watch the athlete, Javier Culson (@JavierCulson [es]) competing in the London 2012 Olympics. Passing the finishing line in the 400m hurdles with a time of 48:33 seconds, Culson secured first place and went through to the semifinals having achieved the fastest time in the first round.

Puerto Rican Eric Alexander (@EricA_Trackstar [es]) also qualified for the semifinals in the 400m hurdles as did Carol Rodriguez in the Women's 400m. As a result, Puerto Rico now has three athletes competing in the next rounds of the Olympics resulting in widespread elation across the country.

Culson is considered an exceptional athlete and the Puerto Rican people believe that he stands a real promising chance in bringing home the first ever gold medal for the country (the finals will be held on Monday August 06). Social networks were buzzing with excitement and support, with the hashtag #JavierCulson trending worldwide on Twitter at around 06:30am.

Culson tweeted,

@JavierCulson: Gracias Puerto Rico por unirse y madrugar hoy para darme su gran apoyo, mañana sera otro dia en ruta a la final, Gracias papito Dios x todo

Javier Culson (archive photo). Photograph by Quique Aparicio courtesy of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee.

Below is a video of the qualifying race from earlier today in London:

http://youtu.be/qJYIkPwHZNY

Carol Rodríguez. Photograph by Quique Aparicio courtesy of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee.

Below are a few tweets celebrating Culson qualifying through to the next round:

@Abrahammusic: Culson esta siendo un intrumento de unidad para nuestro pais nos hace falta un pueblo unido jamas sera vencido

@EarnedPerez: Orgulloso del nuestro #JavierCulson BORICUA DE CORAZÓN!!!!

@noeliasurf: #JavierCulson orgullo boricua que lindo ver a nuestro país unido y contento, gracias Culson por traer esperanza y alegría a nuestro país.

@nagront: #OrgulloBoricua#JavierCulson It's trending worldwide. Im so proud! It shows that Puerto Rico is a small island who dares to dream <3

@Fernan24z: El Boricua es cosa seria, no tenemos ni una medalla y estamos mas felices que los chinos que tienen como 743 #JavierCulson

Fellow Puerto Rican also competing in London 2012, gymnast Tommy Ramos, took to Twitter too to convey his support for Culson:

@TommyRamos_pur [es] : EL GRAN @JavierCulson dando cátedra de como correr al mundo entero!!!! Arriba Puerto Rico!!!!!!!!

*You can access the website for the Puerto Rico Olympic Comittee here [es].

*Photo used for thumbnail taken from this video‘s opening sequence.

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.