The first Olympic climbing champion admits that it was difficult for him to assimilate his success in Tokyo 2020 and sees Paris 2024 still far away
PARIS, Jan. 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish climber Alberto Ginés, the first Olympic champion in history in Tokyo 2020, confessed that it was difficult for him to “normalize” his life after the media commotion over his gold in those Games, and stated that he still does not feel the emotion of revalidating the title. success in Paris 2024 because “there is still a lot left.”
“I like Paris, it is a beautiful city, but I don't feel that Olympic spirit either, in the end there is a long way to go and I think there is not enough time to be able to feel that,” he said in an interview with Europa Press in a central Parisian hotel, near the Eiffel Tower. , one of the 13 Olympic and Paralympic ambassadors of Iberia's 'Talent on board' program.
Alberto Ginés was a restless child. He started climbing when he was 3 years old when his father, seeing that he liked to climb any wall, took him to a climbing wall. Three decades later he rose to the top of the Olympic podium, a rise that, he admitted, caused him vertigo in the first weeks.
“In the first months it was difficult to compete again. With all the new expectations of being an Olympic champion, it was difficult for me to normalize all that pressure. But, in the end, I think I managed it more or less and things are going better for me now,” manifested the Olympic gold at the Tokyo climbing wall.
After assimilating the media spotlight and having reached the Olympic 'ceiling', Ginés had to find reasons to continue training. “I had been focused on getting the gold for so long, well on going to Tokyo, that when I got the gold it was like feeling a kind of emptiness, to say I've been training for this for two or three years and now what? Well, in the end you're looking for other new motivations, the next Games, cups and world championships and, I don't know, adapting again,” he explained.
The first Olympic climbing champion tries to assume that he is now a mirror for the fans, and he congratulated himself on the improvements that have occurred since he moved from Cáceres to the CAR of San Cugat in Barcelona and there was no wall on which to practice.
“I try to think or see myself as a role model. I suppose that for the kids, especially in Spain, whether I will be one or not, I don't know, but I try to do my thing, train, compete because I like it and not think too much about the rest of the things.” “Now we have a pretty good climbing wall in the CAR, which is continually expanding,” he celebrated.
The almost three hours a day train ride that Alberto used to go to training seems far away. “Now, in terms of training facilities, it has improved a lot. There are even competition teams that pay climbers to be on their team. It is becoming much more professional within Spain and there are more people who climb,” he indicated.
“I WAS NOT AWARE OF WHAT GAMES ARE”
Until the end of June, Ginés will not know if he will have a place in Paris 2024. In between, he will face two Pre-Olympics in which 10 numbers are distributed to repeat the Olympic dream. “I think I was not aware of what the Olympic Games were until I experienced them, of the impact and importance they really had. Because, in the end, if a climber does not have an Olympic tradition and goes to the Olympic Games, well okay. But then you realize how important they are and for brands, having an Olympic champion sells a lot,” he said.
The Extremaduran climber sees it “possible” to break the 'glass ceiling' of the 22 medals from Barcelona'92 in Paris 2024, although it is not something that keeps him awake. “Yes, I suppose it will be possible. It's something that I don't think about and I suppose that none of us think about, but I want to go and win my medal. If the others win it, perfect, but if they win them and I don't, I'll go.” to be screwed for not having won my medal. So I'm going a little more to my thing and if in the end we can all get medals then it will be a collective achievement. But I think that each one of us is thinking about our competition,” he stressed.
In Paris, the sport climbing program will go from the three modalities of Tokyo 2020 – bouldering, difficulty and speed – to two, a combined bouldering and difficulty and another of speed, something that is positive, according to the Spanish 'cat'.
“We have to adapt. For Tokyo, we separated the time we had for three disciplines and now for Paris we only have two disciplines, so we have more time to prepare them. It is a different format, we have adapted and I think we are doing well at the moment “, argument.
After the Games, Ginés will go 'rock climbing' and will resume his projects in the field, but now he is focused on achieving the ticket for Paris 2024. “Step by step: I will have to qualify, then go to the Games, if I can go to a final and, if I pass, then a medal. But I like to go step by step,” he summarized. 'Have you projected what that 'D-day' at the Games will be like?' “No, far from it,” he pointed out with the Eiffel Tower in the background as a witness.