Spain will go to Oran to compete in the JJMM, from June 25 to July 5, with 276 athletes (156 men and 121 women)
MADRID, 21 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The taekwondo athlete and silver medalist in the -49 kg category at Tokyo 2020, Adriana Cerezo; the athlete Iñaki Canal and the men’s and women’s handball teams lead the list of 276 athletes that make up the Spanish delegation that will participate in the Mediterranean Games (JJMM) in 2022, according to the list offered by the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) this Tuesday.
The event, which in this 2022 edition moves to the Algerian city of Oran, will start this Saturday, June 25, and will run until July 5. The Spanish delegation will be made up of 276 athletes, of which 156 will be men and 121 women. The list of displaced athletes may undergo some modification due to force majeure, according to the COE.
The Spanish athletes will be led by a young Adriana Cerezo, silver medalist in Taekwondo at the Tokyo Games, in the -49kg category; as well as the Olympic medalists in the event held in Japan Aberto Fernández and Fátima Gálvez, gold in Olympic shooting.
Among those selected in athletics, Iñaki Canal stands out, silver with the 4×400 meter relay at the Belgrade Indoor Championships, and the hammer thrower Laura Redondo, who this season has already beaten her Spanish record twice to leave it at 71, 63 meters.
Other major Spanish bets will be the men’s and women’s handball teams. The Hispanics, with names like Kauldi Odriozola, Chema Márquez or Josep Folqués, will try to improve the bronze medal they achieved at the 2018 JJMM in Tarragona, while the Guerreras, with a list with top-level players like Carmen Campos or Paula Valdivia, will defend the gold conquered four years ago.
The badminton player Pablo Abián will also defend the gold medal, already with two medals in the Mediterranean Games (gold in Tarragona 2018 and silver in Mersin 2013), leader of a team that includes Kike Peñalver, Bea Corrales, who won silver in 2018, and Ania Setien.
In basketball, the Mediterranean Games once again bet on the 3×3 modality and will do so with the U23 category. In the female category, trained by Paula Palomares, Aina Ayuso, Natalia Rodríguez, Carolina Guerrero and Helena Pueyo travel to Oran. Mineras, the men’s team will be represented by Pablo González, Unai Mendicote, Guillem Arcos and Isaac Mayo.
The U-18 soccer team will be in charge of representing Spain at the JJMM in Oran, where the Water polo and Volleyball teams will also attend. The weightlifter Atenery Hernández, Spain’s record for snatch in the -55kg category, will also attend.
Other Spanish strengths in the event will be starred by the current world champion in kumite +68 kilos, María Torres, and the sailor Ana Moncada, only 21 years old, while Spain will also have representatives in boxing, cycling, fencing, judo, artistic gymnastics , wrestling, swimming, petanque, tennis, table tennis and archery.