MADRID, 12 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), Alejandro Blanco, received this Thursday the Ourensanía 2021 Award, an award that highlights him for “a whole vital and professional career dedicated to the world of sport, with special mention of his outstanding role at the helm of the Olympic entity and its condition of firm defender of the Olympic movement “.
In the event held at the Main Theater of the Galician town, Blanco, born in Ourense in 1950, collected the sculpture of Xosé Cid and a copy of the minutes of the jury that accredits him as a native of Ourense deserving of the recognition of an entire province of hands the president of the Xunta de Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and the president of the Provincial Council of Ourense, José Manuel Baltar.
“For me it is a great honor to be an ambassador for Ourense, my origin and my home. I feel really moved and grateful with this award that is given to me. There is no greater recognition than the one that your land gives you. Ourense has no borders and it is a heritage that we must share with the rest of humanity “, declared the president of the COE after receiving the award.
In addition, he recalled his experiences in Ourense. “Behind each story there is a story and mine begins in what used to be called Calle General Franco, -now Progreso Street-, I spent every afternoon playing football in games that only stopped when the Municipal Police came to kick us out”, he remembered.
For his part, Baltar pointed out that with the award he recognizes in Blanco “an example of sporting values: sacrifice, the desire to improve, teamwork and commitment to a land that makes medals.”
Meanwhile, Núñez Feijóo applauded the performance of the president of the COE. “Without him the Spanish and international Olympism cannot be understood because it is a compendium of those virtues that allow the Olympic rings to be a flag in which we can all recognize ourselves,” he said.
At the event, in which Blanco was accompanied by his family and closest friends, an emotional video was shown with congratulatory messages from great athletes such as Carolina Marín, Raúl Entrerríos, Saúl Craviotto, Teresa Portela or Maialen Chourraut.
The Ourensanía 2021 Awards ceremony began with an official reception in the Pazo Provincial, followed by a walk to the Main Theater, accompanied by the provincial, regional and Cortes de Galicia presidents, as well as the Royal Band of Bagpipes. .