“THE NEXT BEST THING TO BEING AN ELITE ATHLETE IS TAKING CARE OF ELITE ATHLETES” - Dr. Paul S. Saenz
The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 are finally here! After being postponed due to an unforeseen pandemic, the Summer Olympics are in full swing. With all the buzz around the historic games, we remember our own native San Antonio olympian.
DR. PAUL S. SAENZ, D.O., A NATIVE SAN ANTONIAN, HAS A DIVERSE HISTORY PARTICIPATING IN THE OLYMPICS--AS A PHYSICIAN.
His Olympic career started with the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Saenz was a part of the medical staff that provided medical services for the athletes that were involved with the sport of boxing. He recalls “one of the true stars of the US boxing team was somebody whose name [we’re] very familiar with now”--Floyd Mayweather, who, at the time, was a very young athlete.
Dr. Saenz’s next opportunity to become involved in the Olympic Games was in 2004 when he was asked to serve as the national team physician for the sport of pentathlon. He remembers putting his hands to work quite a bit while working on the team because of the demands of their sport, being so rigorous and arduous.
The 2004 games were in the birthplace of the Olympics in Athens. He wondered, “How am I so lucky to be able to go to the actual birthplace of the Olympic Games?”
While serving as the national team physician for the pentathlon team, Dr. Saenz remained the team physician for the NBA San Antonio Spurs back at home. Tim Duncan, our own San Antonio Spurs, was competing on the US Olympic basketball team, at the same time, so when Dr. Saenz walked into the gym, Duncan would come over, hug his doctor, and then ask about his (Duncan’s) own health.
“EVEN THOUGH I WAS THERE WITH THE PENTATHLON TEAM, HE (DUNCAN) WAS STILL ASKING ME TO TAKE CARE OF HIM AS HIS TEAM PHYSICIAN, SO THAT WAS PRETTY COOL!”
2012 was a pretty amazing year for Dr. Saenz because he was asked to be a national team physician for USA track and field. Then, a little bit later, came an invitation to be the national team physician for USA Basketball in that same year.
“I [HAD] TO PINCH MYSELF THINKING. I GREW UP ON FRESNO STREET HERE IN SAN ANTONIO, AND WENT TO CENTRAL CATHOLIC (HIGH SCHOOL) AND THEN THE ST. MARY'S (UNIVERSITY).” DR. SAENZ IS STILL AMAZED HOW A NON-ATHLETE ENDED UP IN THE OLYMPICS.
The recognized doctor confesses that it wasn't until he decided to attend medical school, after learning about sports medicine, that he really wanted to pursue this profession with such a passion.
“It's really neat to say that I've taken care of athletes competing at the highest level, but it's also pretty neat taking care of a 10 year old gymnast, or taking care of a 14 year old soccer player. You know, I couldn't have written a script any better.”