“I have English blood and a Spanish heart, all my successes are from Spain”

The paddler Marcus Cooper confessed this Wednesday that he has to “assimilate” that he will be the Spanish flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which will be held on July 26, and that although he defines himself as an athlete “with blood English and Spanish heart” has always felt its successes as being from Spain.

“It’s taking me a little while to assimilate it. It was something that happened to me, an open secret, but until the moment arrives you don’t believe it. Symbolically it is so powerful and you begin to value the responsibility, pride and love that This situation entails and your heart fills,” he said at a press conference at the COE.

After the official announcement that both he and the sailor Támara Echegoyen will carry the national flag at the opening of the Games, Marcus Cooper said that the Spanish flag is “the most beautiful in the world” and that of “the best country in the world.”

“Let everyone know that they are in the best hands, and from someone who feels the colors, who has played the anthem many times and I hope to continue playing it many more. Someone who knows that all his sporting successes are from Spain,” he commented.

The Balearic paddler pointed out that every time he gets on the podium he does not do it alone. “My friends, my family, the health workers, my club, the federations, the CSD, the COE, the sponsors and the press get on. We all get on the podium and celebrate the successes. We encourage everyone to go to Paris at least for 23 medals, and then maybe we’ll celebrate it at the COE,” he wished.

The Spanish standard bearer, born in Oxford, portrayed himself as an athlete “of English blood with a Spanish heart”, and recalled that the generation of his great-great-grandparents already spent their summers in Mallorca. “Pressure for the flag? Nobody puts more pressure on themselves than I put on myself. We paddlers have a lot of pressure, but it is positive and is part of our job. I’m going for it all,” he said.