The doctor of sports medicine for the Puerto Rico delegation in San Salvador 2023, Alejandra E. González Vega, is living a dream that she predicted to the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (COPUR) 21 years ago.
More than two decades ago, Dr. González Vega was an athlete and medalist in swimming for the Puerto Rico delegation at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador 2002. Today, she is part of the sports medicine team that COPUR brought to San Salvador 2023 to support the current athletes.
Describing the "sports cycle" she is experiencing here; the sensation would be like being in a place where no one has set foot before. "I'm on cloud nine," says González Vega.
The doctor recalls dreaming about this "sports cycle" and telling COPUR about it 21 years ago when she met with the organization, then presided over by the late Héctor Cardona, to bid farewell and announce her abrupt retirement from swimming. It was an unexpected goodbye because she was only 17 years old with a future ahead of her.
She had won a silver medal with a national record in the 200-meter breaststroke in San Salvador and contributed to another medal in the relay of individual medley in those Games. She had a future, but she also had personal plans.
"I met with COPUR and Cardona. I explained that I was retiring to begin my studies and that, if God gave me the opportunity, I wanted to come back as a doctor. And things worked out, in the same place (San Salvador), with the swimming coach Nilda Vega, who taught me how to swim, and with Fernando Delgado, who was my coach. It's a coincidence that makes you wonder, how is this possible?" she recounted.
Vega is the current head coach of the swimming delegation, and Delgado is the current federation president.
As promised, González Vega said she graduated from St. Mary's College in Cupey, completed her bachelor's degree at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ponce, attended medical school at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, did her residency at Mayagüez Medical Center, and specialized in sports medicine in Texas in 2019.
She added that all those years of studying, with their various branches in the field of medicine, were born out of an injury she suffered in her shoulder prior to San Salvador 2002, which was treated by COPUR doctors, particularly Dr. Ana Cintrón.
"What motivated me to study medicine was being an athlete and suffering a shoulder injury before the Central American Games. That's when I learned about sports medicine. The COPUR medical team treated my injury, and I was ready. At that time, Dr. Ana Cintrón was there, the only woman at the time, and she became my role model," she acknowledged.
Today, in addition to being in San Salvador, the doctor has offices in Mayagüez and attends, among others, the Mayagüez Indians in the National Superior Basketball League.
She is also alongside sports medicine references in San Salvador, such as Dr. William Micheo, among others, and a delegation of 404 athletes who are young and just as committed to Puerto Rico as she and the delegation from San Salvador 2002 were.
"The atmosphere is like a family. Everyone is devoted to Puerto Rico. That atmosphere, that vibe hasn't changed."
The sports medicine specialist makes her debut in those realms in the same place where she swam and won medals for Puerto Rico in 2002.
