Can you imagine having a four- time MTB National Champion in our own UPRM?! Meet Coral M. Ramirez, the never-stopping MTB rider who has won our country a ton of acknowledgement. At just 18-years-old she has been able to win 1st place in the Tour of America’s Dairyland, has been “National MTB Champion” since 2010, and has gained recognition in other important cycling events. This Cabo Rojo raised freshman has traveled several times to the US and to South America looking to become a professional cyclist; and no doubt she has achieved her dream. Full of big dreams and talent, Coral courses her first year in the Physical Education Department, Training and Arbitrage Program; let’s see what it take to become a National Champion and such a well-focused student.
In her early days Coral just enjoyed MTB riding for fun, she tells Her Campus UPRM: “My father used to ride, so when I was a little girl MTB was a hobby for me. It wasn’t until the year 2010 that I began to see it more of as a competitive sport.” Since 2010 Ramirez has done nothing more but working and training very hard to achieve her goals as a MTB rider, “My goal is to go and represent Puerto Rico in the Olympics” she says. No doubt that level of focus has to have some kind of magic behind it; for Coral the inspiration for competing, as she responded to our team, is “giving the best of me and finally achieving my dream of becoming an Olympian”.
Since the beginnings of 2013 Coral has represented Puerto Rico in various international races, like: the Pan-American Games hosted by Argentina, the Caribbean Junior Cycling Championship taken place in Aruba, and the Tour of America’s Dairyland taken place in Wisconsin. Apart from the great importance of having such an amazing representation, Ramirez came back with some amazing titles. From Argentina, she came back with a 7th place; from Aruba she brought home a 4th place in time-trial and a 5th place in route. She obtained a brig recognition from Wisconsin, bringing back the 1st place overall title. For the UPRM freshman, the overall year experience “has been amazing, you dedicate all your life to it and being one of the best, just makes all the hard work worth it.”
One of the most intriguing facts about Coral Ramirez’s career is how did she manage to keep up with her training (very time and energy consuming of course) and with her senior year schoolwork? To this her response was, “the time was manageable until college; I had time to train and study. What I did was, I went to school did my schoolwork during the day; and after school I trained.” Now is a different story, as all college students Coral has had many lifestyle changes; one of them of course the difficulties of training. She claims “I still haven’t found how to arrange everything. It’s hard taking time to train, thus I get home late and tired. To study I use the gap between classes, and also when I get home”.
The life of this collegiette is certainly one that grabs attention, so the HC UPRM team asked Coral about the most rewarding experience as a MTB rider; to which she answered “it has really just been great; being able to compete internationally, knowing your one of the best, it’s amazing.” A majority of athletes seek a role model to look up to in their professional careers, for this collegiette is Marianne Vos, the Netherlands national champion. Coral explains that “wherever she goes, whatever the event, she comes out winning. I would like to be like her someday.” For now, this freshman seeks complete her Bachellor’s Degree in Training and Arbitrage (with the hopes of getting a Master’s in Kinesiology); while in the future Coral says to HC UPRM “I would like to become a pro-cyclist. It’s possible that next year I’ll ride the “La Vuelta a Costa Rica” and the “La Vuelta a El Salvador”. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see this impressive young cyclist carrying the Puerto Rican flag up high in the next Olympic Games, for what’s determined is achieved; and Coral M. Ramirez has certainly got the determination.
Teams:
Claro (2010-2011)
Bikes, later known as Colegio (2011-2012)
Banana Boat (2013- )
Lighting Round:
- Favorite food… Seafood
- Favorite movie… “The Little Mermaid”
- Free time… Sleep or eat
- Favorite place ever rode… Argentina
*Pictures were taken from Coral’s Facebook Fan Page.