“If I’m going to crawl or finish last, I won’t continue, but my goal is to continue, I don’t know if the entire Olympic cycle,” he says.
MADRID, 20 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The skeleton rider Ander Mirambell, who finished in 24th place at the Beijing Winter Games, is clear that he will not continue if it is not to be competitive, so he asks for a “motivating” project for the future, as well as more investment for winter sports in Spain, where he believes that he has not yet “reached the top” and there is “a lot of room for improvement”, while he recalls that “in life the medal is not everything” and that many times, as In your case, the best thing to do is “get the goal” or leave a possible legacy in your sport.
“I arrived from Beijing on Saturday and on Sunday I was already in the gym. Now I’m on vacation and the other day I went to play tennis, to run. I’m keeping fit, my goal is to continue, I don’t know if it will be the whole cycle “Maybe yes. The key will be in the meetings to know what the project consists of, the federation has to commit to the skeleton. I am clear that if I am going to drag myself to the circuits, I am not going to continue, if I am going to finish the The latter doesn’t either. You have to be in concision and with a motivating objective”, explains Mirambell in an interview with Europa Press after attending the presentation of the new edition of ‘Revolution on Ice’.
The Catalan finished his participation in Beijing 2022 in 24th place, the same result as in Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014. “I am not satisfied, because you always want more, but with the resources we have had, it is the most I have been able to achieve. I was not there in October because there was no budget, that meant 45 fewer descents. I thought the differences would be less, but it has been difficult on such a technical circuit,” he laments.
“Life goes on, we’ve given everything, I arrived at the start melted, my coach wasn’t there… A lot of things happened that justify the result, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy with it,” added the Barcelona native.
At Beijing 2022, Mirambell completed her fourth Games, a feat “not within the reach of many people”. “It’s different now, but you still get goosebumps. On a mental level it’s been harder because of everything that living in bubbles implies, but when you put on your helmet and compete in the Games… I’m the happiest man of the world,” he confesses.
“Legend and referent are very big words. Referents and legends are Regino (Hernández), Javi (Fernández), Queralt (Castellet), people who have achieved success. But in life the medal is not everything, reaching that goal it is already the medal of oneself and that is more my case. For me it has the same value both the one who gets it and the one who finishes the test. That’s how I see the sport, “says Mirambell.
“TO SEE PEOPLE START TO PRACTICE SKELETON FOR ME IS A GIFT”
Thus, the legacy that an athlete leaves to future generations becomes something “much better than a medal.” “A medal stays in a drawer, but that tomorrow, when we are 70 years old, you can see people who are doing skeleton and you were the one who opened the way, with the machete, it is a gift. In life you can form part of a history book and it stays closed, or you can see the story continue and people continue your way. That would be great, “he says.
And it is that, for the skeleton pilot, this Olympic cycle until Beijing has been more complicated. “The preparation in a pandemic has been harder because there is more loneliness. Before the competition ended and you could go to dinner with your teammates, now even the changing rooms are in shifts. You lose the human part a lot, on a mental level you have trained him, but there are to adapt and understand that this is the new reality. In the end, when you enjoy it, it’s competing,” he says.
“The best feeling as an athlete is to cross the finish line and be able to hug your family. And then parade through your country, it’s ‘awesome’, and if you carry the flag on top… I can’t find adjectives. When Alejandro Blanco told me that he would be the flag bearer I was petrified, it was tremendous. When you enter the stadium… It’s amazing, amazing. You can imagine what it’s like to get on a podium, but parade in a Games with the flag, seeing the hoops…”, he says about his experience in these Games together with Queralt Castellet.
For Mirambell, the entire process up to the competition itself is the most vibrant and important for the athlete. “We live in a ‘Facebook society’, the first thing I do when I finish my degree is hang up the time and position. We live in a society marked by image and by what others say, and we forget that a competition is the consequence of the work done, we have to keep that,” he emphasizes.
“Is the minute of descent more important or how you have prepared yourself for months and years? Those of us who know how difficult this process is value the whole way much more. It is one of the things that I would like to change in society, the game you can win it or lose it, but the important thing is how you play it and how you arrive prepared”, he insists.
“WINTER SPORTS IN SPAIN HAS A ROUTE”
The athlete acknowledges that he is “a little crazy” when practicing this sport in Spain, so he asks for more tools to “be able to continue with this madness”. “Winter sports have a long way to go in Spain, but a change of mentality is needed in society. That people from Madrid and neighborhoods that have not been able to access the snow can go to the snow. Create a ‘white week’ for all schools, for example,” he adds.
“We have to evolve and create a project according to our society. We have snow, ice rinks… For me, the most important thing is to invest in people being able to practice sport,” says Ander Mirambell, who has also participated in 10 World Cups.
For this reason, the Catalan persists in giving more budget to “winter sports, especially on ice”. “The more you invest, the easier it is to improve. And there’s a lot of room for improvement, we haven’t reached the top, we’re at the base. Athletes, coaches, material are missing…”, he concludes about the future of these disciplines in Spain.