The president of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), Alejandro Blanco, stated that badminton player Carolina Marín, Olympic champion in Rio 2016, would be a “great standard bearer” at the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, to whom he reminded that Spain arrives “with the best results.”
“Carolina Marín would be a great flag bearer. But you have to be very careful with the issue because it is very difficult for the people who compete the next day to be the flag bearer, since they will spend seven hours thinking about other things,” said Alejandro Blanco after the presentation at the COE of the ‘ADO, Making History Together’ campaign.
The leader stated that there are a “series of circumstances” that must be “considered and evaluated” to make the decision, and recalled that the decision on the flag bearer is made by the Board of Olympic Federations. “We have a rule that has been imposed in this house since the Athens Games, and that is what it has to be. Before meeting we will look at who has the most merit based on that rule,” he announced.
“Based on that rule, we will see if we have to call Carolina (Marín), who is a world-class athlete, but I don’t think she wants to be there for seven hours. We will talk to everyone and then the Board of Olympic Federations will approve it. “In all the time I have been here we have never had any problems with this,” he said.
Blanco stressed that “it is above the norm that the athlete can be there” and called not to forget “the time of when they arrive in Paris depending on when they compete.” In addition, he announced that there will once again be two flag bearers, a man and a woman, as in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
The president of the COE described himself as “a very positive person,” and explained that “the path that has been taken in this short cycle has been impressive.” “When we analyze the possibilities, the results of year 23 and year 22 of those Olympic events, we see that we have the best results,” he noted.
“Overcoming Barcelona (22 medals) is the great challenge and I am convinced that Paris will be great Games for Spain. But all this is an impression. People are aware that the possibility of a medal is there,” he stressed.
Blanco was present at the last Assembly of the European Olympic Committees, and there he was able to boast that Spain “is the first country after the organizer” in the number of teams qualified for Paris, with nine, waiting for the men’s basketball team. , who will fight for the Olympic place in Valencia at the beginning of July.
He estimated approximately 370 athletes who will represent Spain in these Games, and stressed that having such a large number and with so many possibilities invites one to be “optimistic.” “But we have to be realistic and the Olympic Games are the most complicated competition. We have to encourage Spain and think that in these Games there is a possibility of achieving the great feat and getting the 22 medals,” she added.
“SPAIN IS NOT RACIST”
One of those medal options will be the recent European triple jump champion, Ana Peleteiro, who suffered racist insults before the tournament. “It is a problem that is happening and it hurts us all, but Spain is not a racist country. We all fight against racism,” she stressed.
“What happens is that you cannot prevent, unfortunately, that there is some person, a tiny group of people, who from time to time forgets what equality is, forgets a very important value such as respect, and says true atrocities,” he declared.
He stressed that Ana Paleteiro knows “firmly” the support that the COE provides to all athletes 100 percent. “Not 99%, but 100%. We will fight tirelessly against racism. These insults do not fit into sport or life,” she said.
Another of those medal options will be the tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, recent Roland Garros champion. Regarding the Murcian, the leader recalled reading an interview in which he says that he “prefers Paris gold at the Olympic Games to Wimbledon.” “I think he has to get both,” he added.