The Tokyo Games close a golden stage of Catalan sport. In Japan, athletes such as the Gasol brothers, much of the backbone of the men’s hockey team or Laia Palau, for example, have been fired. Others, like Mireia Belmonte or some water polo players, could still arrive in Paris in three years. An appointment in which Saúl Craviotto, the Catalan with the most medals in history, will be safe. He already has five and wants more. L’esport català, com li passa a l’espanyol, encara aquest cicle de la pròxima olimpíada preguntant-se com s’ho pot fer per seguir creixent, perquè no ho fa, malgrat l’aparició de joves prometedors. Base sport always shines, but the aid received, compared to other countries, is few.
In Tokyo, 17 Catalan athletes have hung a medal in their hearts. A figure higher than the 14 in Rio de Janeiro, although then these 14 medals were more distributed. That is, of these 17 medals from the Japanese event, 10 are from the women’s water polo team, 6 from the men’s handball team and 5 from the men’s soccer team. In Japan, medals have been won in just five events, less than the 8 in Rio de Janeiro. The 2008 Games are still the ones where more Catalans took the podium, with a total of 32 athletes. And the Barcelona 1992 event is still the one where the medals were most distributed in different events: they arrived until 12.
“They were weird Games, because the pandemic affected everyone’s preparation. A lot of surprises have been seen. I think we have to stick with the fact that it has competed well and the Games have been able to be done,” he explained. president of the COE, Alejandro Blanco, and added that “179 of the 322 Spanish athletes have been finalists”. And, of these, 100 were Catalan, 51% of whom were women. Athletes, however, emphasize that in order to compete against states with fewer populations, such as the Netherlands or Denmark, win more medals, aid is needed. The program created to promote state sport for the Barcelona Games, the ADO, which mixes public and private capital, has been cutting its contributions over time. If in 2008 it was about 63 million euros, in 2012 it was already 52 million. In 2016, it dropped to 36 and for these it has been 22. The economic crisis and the change in the television model that leaves private brands without much room for advertising have not helped a model that can not compete against countries with more tradition, such as France or Italy. “The club base is important; in hockey we compete because we have the clubs in Terrassa that make community,” says David Alegre. In other words, sometimes the sport competes well thanks to the existence of clubs, as is the case with CN Sabadell and Atlètic Barceloneta in water polo, or more recently with CN Sant Andreu in swimming. The contributions received by the athletes of the Federations have also been cut in recent years. “Sometimes you have to ask for brand support yourself to receive advertising, but the same brand that helped athletes years ago now doesn’t support you if you don’t have enough followers on Instagram,” Aina Cid complained before Tokyo.
As has been the case in recent years, the Spanish delegation was very confident in being able to achieve great success in team sports, sports in which public support is not so much needed, as there is a good network of clubs that train basketball, handball players. or football. Now the teams have returned with a certain bitter aftertaste because they can’t get either of the two basketball and field hockey teams on the podium. Men’s water polo also missed the bronze in the last game, after a magnificent tournament. Whoever was able to stay in third place was the men’s handball team, coached by the Catalan Jordi Ribera, with Antonio García, Adrià Figueras, Ferran Solé, Aleix Gómez, Valero Rivera and Viran Morros in the team.
A golden generation of women’s water polo has won the second silver medal in the last three Olympics, after falling in the final against the United States, as happened in 2012. A great success for the team coached by Miki Goose, in which 10 of the 12 players are Catalan: Marta Bach, Maica Garcia, Anna Espar, Clara Espar, Laura Ester, Judith Forca, Irene González, Paula Leitón, Bea Ortiz and Roser Tarragó. The men’s football team also finished with a silver medal, after falling in extra time against the Brazilians, with Marc Cucurella, Eric Garcia, Óscar Mingueza, Dani Olmo and Javi Puado in the team.
Who has not failed is Saul Craviotto, with his silver medal in the K4-500, a test in which he had not yet climbed the podium, as his previous four medals had been in K1 (individual boat) or pairing in K2 . In his fourth consecutive Olympic Games, the Lleida native has become the first Catalan and second Spaniard to win five Olympic medals, and has added this silver to the golds won in 2008 and 2016, as well as the silver of 2012 and a another bronze in 2016. And now he wants a sixth medal in three years. In Tokyo, Craviotto also won an Olympic diploma at the K2-500. Craviotto is a national policeman, assigned to Asturias, and with this work he can combine training. A very common model in Italy or France, where many athletes join police forces because they receive facilities to train. Craviotto, however, does have to work uniformly. During covid-19 he patrolled the streets.
The first medal was won by Jordi Xammar from Barcelona, paired with the Galician Nico Rodríguez in sailing, with a bronze in 470. And he broke, by the way, a drought that had lasted since 2004 of no medal in one of the most joy is usually given to Catalan sport, sailing. A sport that is at risk because the new law of coasts threatens to close many of the clubs where champions have emerged.
In addition to the medals, 18 athletes have won an Olympic diploma. Many of them young people with a future who are already thinking about the Paris Games. Of these diplomas, probably the most bitter was that of Mireia Belmonte from Badalona, who was less than half a second away from getting on the podium for the third consecutive Games in the 400-style event.
In rowing, Aina Cid paired with Virgina Díaz and Manel Balastegui paired with Caetano Horta won a diploma in their K2 tests. This is the second diploma from Aosta Cid from Amposta, because she already won one in 2016. And Núria Vilarrubla was a finalist in canoeing and took the diploma. Lleida athlete Ayad Lamdassem shone in the marathon, while the synchronized swimming team led by Ona Carbonell, with Iris Tió, Meritxell Mas, Paula Ramírez and Berta Ferreras, won the diploma by finishing in seventh place .
Tennis player Paula Badosa was one step away from fighting for the medals, but was unable to finish her quarter-final match due to the heat. Of course, the player born in Venezuela to Basque parents, but a member of CT Barcelona, Garbiñe Muguruza, has taken a diploma. In classical dressage, Barcelona’s Beatriz Ferrer-Salat wins a new diploma, which must be added to a long list of awards, including the two medals of the 2004 Games. In sailing, Florian Trittel, paired with Tara Pacheco, took a diploma in the Nacra 17 category. The weightlifter Marcos Ruiz, in the +109 kg category, did a great job and finished in the top eight.
In men’s water polo, fourth place means a diploma for Dani López Pinedo, Unai Aguirre, Blai Mallarach, Roger Tahull, Álvaro Granados, Bernat Sanahuja and Marc Larumbe. The men’s field hockey players, eliminated in the quarterfinals by the future Belgian champions, in the last game of five historic players who leave, Pau Quemada, Quico Cortés, Roc Oliva, David Alegre and Pepe also take the diploma Romeo. The women’s national team also fell in the quarterfinals, in this case against Great Britain, and won the same diploma as the women’s basketball team. Laia Palau, who has won a diploma with the women’s basketball team accompanied by Silvia Domínguez and Queralt Casas, will not return to the Games either.
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