Teresa Portela was awarded for her extensive sports career
MADRID, 31 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The athletes Antía Jácome (canoeing), Fran Garrigós (judo), María Delgado (swimming), Inés Bergua (rhythmic gymnastics), Cayetano García (canoeing) and Teresa Portela (canoeing) received their respective 2023 Admiral Awards this Wednesday, awards that They celebrate their fourth edition and in which all the votes are made by the fans.
The Spanish judoka Fran Garrigós, world champion in 2023, collected the award for Best Athlete of 2023 and considered that judo is “one of the sports with the greatest licenses at the national level, but unfortunately it is not very present in the media and there are have to achieve great results to have an impact”.
The Valencian will try to get on the Olympic podium for the first time in Paris in 2024 after failing to do so in either Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) or Tokyo. “I think the third time's the charm. I'm in good shape and I want to get to Paris and do a good job from the start,” he said.
On the other hand, the Best Athlete of 2023 was the canoeist Antía Jácome, who assured that she was “quite calm” ahead of Paris 2024 although they still have to pass the national selective. “We will try to compete in the C1 200 and we still have to go through that national test in April which we hope will be a formality,” she said.
Swimmer María Delgado received the award for Best Paralympic Athlete and stated that she is going to Paris with “maximum expectations.” “I am training better than before and I want to go for a medal. There are many rivals who prepare very well but for my part I will give everything,” said the Aragonese.
The Under 23 award went, in the female category, to gymnast Inés Bergua, who spoke about the need to do exercises correctly. “It's the most fun part, but it's the hardest. You have to be creative and search everywhere to get points. All you have to do is work until it comes out and for that we usually train 6-7 hours a day from Monday to Saturday,” she expressed.
“It is a very aesthetic sport and therein lies the difficulty. It is clear that there will be nerves and excitement, and we must try not to let those nerves change us. We are very motivated and we are newbies but we face it with great enthusiasm and having Alejandra Quereda As a coach and role model she is wonderful,” said the woman from Huesca.
The distinction in the men's category also fell to canoeing, to the figure of Cayetano García, who aspires to have a place in the C2 500, “a new distance in Paris” and in which he was world champion in 2022 along with Pablo Martínez . “These awards give peace of mind, which in an Olympic year is very appreciated. In the end we are not going to live from this all our lives as a footballer,” he said.
Finally, Teresa Portela, Olympic silver medalist in Tokyo 2020 and who could participate in her seventh Olympic Games in Paris, collected the 'History of Spanish Sports' award. “In my case, I won the medal the sixth time and that means that when you pursue something and don't give up, the result tastes much better,” she highlighted.
“My expectations in Sydney 2000 were to enjoy myself and later in the other Games the expectations were different, but I fell short. I never thought it would be a failure and I like the fact that I tried. I think that in my case I “I have planned my sporting career on setting short-term goals and going one shovel at a time. Now I'm on a team (K4), which is going to be nice and I like to live it with great enthusiasm and let's hope it's a good year,” he added about his new adventure in K4.