“We athletes are going to place ourselves in the place in the pyramid that we really deserve”

The former Spanish gymnast Almudena Cid recognizes the difficulty that her retirement caused her because she had “a feeling of loss of identity” and was left without her “place of expression”, while also demanding that the athlete finally be placed “in the place of the pyramid” that he deserves and obtain the recognition for all his dedication when he puts the end to it.

“Retirement was very hard for me, as it is for every athlete, because you have a feeling of loss of identity, you associate your entire life with the figure of the gymnast and I have defended myself in the world with gymnastics. And suddenly I took my place away.” of expression, where I can get angry and vindicate,” said Almudena Cid in an interview with Europa Press on the occasion of her role as Ausonia ambassador in the fight against breast cancer.

However, “with the passage of time” and thanks to such a “deep analysis” when she began to write, she discovered that “the identity” was still in her and that “the only thing that sport had done was to discover yourself and discover what or what you were like.” “I discovered that creativity was an important point in my sporting career and that it was my characteristic,” he admitted.

“I think that everything that happened later on a professional level was not even something I sought or agreed upon with myself. I tried to explore other options of expression and I found interpretation, writing or narration, and although people view it as something exceptional “I think it makes all the sense in the world for someone who seeks to be able to continue telling stories,” said the author of the series of stories ‘The World of Olympia’, based on her experiences, and of ‘Walking without toes’, and also an actress. in series like ‘The Secret of Puente Viejo’.

The Vitorian has found “spaces” where she also sees that she has done her job “well.” “And that is perhaps the most surprising thing for me because it is very complicated to touch a key and have it work, although everything is ephemeral,” warns Cid, who will appear in a Disney series that “will be broadcast in 2025” and who does not forget that a Once you write a book and hand it over, it stops being yours. “They are jobs that are not as constant as I feel the sporting stage was, but I am fortunate to have been able to explore other places and somehow reach people,” she added.

She lived as a gymnast “very strong experiences such as representing your country or risking everything in 90 seconds.” “We have done things at ages that are not usual and when you leave sport, first you are left with a physical legacy that you have to live with and with certain chronic pain because that is what high performance is like,” he confessed.

But there is also “a feeling of abandonment.” “And the most complicated thing for athletes is to re-create a circle of security in which you feel cared for because in the end the human being takes care and needs to be taken care of. And when you are in high-performance sports, you believe that they are taking care of you. taking care and the only thing they take care of is that your performance is optimal,” he laments.

“When you leave it, you realize that you have been, first, an instrument for society, for Spanish sport, for the Olympic Committees and the Higher Sports Councils, and you have the feeling of having felt a little used, and then, for on the other hand, that of abandonment,” he said.

“I SEE IT DIFFICULT FOR A GYMNAST TO DO FOUR GAMES LIKE ME”

Therefore, “it is no coincidence” that a group of athletes was created who a few weeks ago participated in a conference in Congress to demand a solution to their employment situation after retirement and that “they can contribute to Social Security.”

Cid has experienced “suicides and depression of colleagues, very extreme situations of colleagues that have given results to this country and have been inspiring.” “I think we don’t deserve this, but we have woken up a little and we are going to place ourselves in the place in the pyramid that we really deserve, because it seems that we are at the bottom and that others exist thanks to us,” he said in this regard.

The Spaniard can boast of being the only rhythmic gymnast who has participated in four Games, from Atlanta ’96 until her farewell in Beijing 2008, a milestone that she sees as “difficult for it to happen again” because in the first place she debuted in this event. at 16 years old” and “it has been a long time” since this has happened in her sport, although young gymnasts have been seen in Paris 2024.

In addition, it has been difficult to extend the race. “For example, thinking about Darja Varfolomeev, the current Olympic champion, not only in Los Angeles but in the following Games, I find it complicated. Although I have done it, there are so many factors such as whether the injuries respect you, whether your training circle continues being equally productive and effective for your way of working, that there are no structural changes or that the gymnast adapts well to the changes in the code,” he stressed.

“When I think about how I was able to do it, I think it was because I had a very strong ability to adapt and I was not the best, but rather I was someone who was among the best in the world and who was adapting well to changes. But when on top of that you are the best, as is the case with Varfolomeev, you not only have to adapt to the changes but you have to defend that first place,” Cid stressed.

All in all, she feels “lucky to have broken that glass ceiling.” “In fact, gymnasts consider two Olympic Games naturally, something that before was even difficult to verbalize, and I think that now seeing gymnasts between two and three Games will be feasible with a lot of effort as well,” he concluded.

“IN PARIS THERE WAS A FAILURE TO BELIEVE THAT SOME GAMES ARE THE SAME AS A WORLD CUP”

Regarding the Spanish rhythmic performance in Paris, where it was not at the expected level, mainly the team that aspired to the podium and did not advance to the final, it is clear that “they did not compete well.” “I was with the microphone (from RTVE) and it hurt a lot to have to narrate a reality like that,” he admitted.

“The same thing has been missing not so much the work as the preparation of the event itself, the belief that the Games are the same as a World Cup or a European Championship. You have already been able to experience that this is not the case, that there is a different feeling that modifies something about you , that no matter how much routine and no matter how much you want to think that this competition has to be the same, there is something in the context that modifies it and you have to work on it from another place and with another strategy,” said the former gymnast.

She believes that all the gymnasts who were at Paris 2024 “are going to continue” and that what they experienced will have served them “as an experience.” “I think it all adds up and then there is the reality that it is a sport that with bad breathing can ruin your work. It has been a blow of reality from which I think everyone is going to learn something very positive,” he hoped.

Finally, Almudena Cid refers to the moment of his sport in Spain. “Evidently, if it were in my hands how things should be done, it would change a lot,” he highlighted. “First, providing clubs and schools with knowledge, because many times the coaches are overwhelmed. It is a sport that has grown a lot, with a lot of practice, and where the good and the bad grow exponentially,” he added.

“The only way for good things to grow exponentially better is by giving tools and resources. I think we are still a long way from those at the top of our federation thinking more about the base. In the end, they often suffocate these ‘small’ structures, But there is a lot of will, a lot of love, a lot of dedication and a lot of passion, which overshadows the shortcomings. You go to a competition like Euskalgym that is filled with 8,000 spectators every year and that speaks of the growth of this sport, which is always a challenge. option that is available to girls when they start school. I think we have the responsibility to take care of it a little more,” he concluded.