Rebekah Colberg
 Rebekah Colberg |
||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Puerto Rico
|
||
| Central American and Caribbean Games | ||
| Women's athletics | ||
 |
1938 Panama | Discus |
|
1938 Panama | Javelin throw |
| Women's softball | ||
|
1946 Barranquilla | softball |
Dr. Rebekah Colberg (December 25, 1918 – July 8, 1995), is known as "The Mother of Women's Sports in Puerto Rico". Colberg participated in various athletic competitions in the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games celebrated in Panama where she won the Gold Medals in Discus and Javelin throw.
Colberg was born in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico when her mother was only seven months pregnant. Little did anybody imagine then, that someday Colberg, whose birth weight was only four pounds, would break sports barriers for Puerto Rican women. Even though there used to be a lot of discrimination in sports against women, Colberg was to prove that women did have the potential to be great athletes, if given the chance.
Colberg graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a Bachelor's degree in science and pharmacy. She received her Masters in physical education from Columbia University in New York and her Doctorate in medicine from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
From 1932-1946, for fourteen consecutive years, Colberg was Puerto Rico's tennis champion. In 1938, she won two gold medals at the IV Central American and Caribbean Games, celebrated in Panama, in the discus and javelin throw events. In 1946, when the games were celebrated in Barranquilla, Colombia, she won a gold medal in softball. While studying for her Master's degree at Columbia University, she was in the university's field hockey and lacrosse championship teams. She was also a member of the undefeated women's basketball team of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
...
Wikipedia