MADRID 3 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Former Spanish weightlifter Lydia Valentín, triple Olympic medalist in weightlifting and two-time world champion, assures that “everyone” knew that her sport was “corrupt”, but that she did not think that “it would come to light after dark moments”, and she is clear that she Yes, she can “sleep peacefully” in this sense after a successful career in high performance that “demands exclusivity and an absolute for and for.”
“I don’t get on the podium in London or in Beijing, in Rio thank God, yes. They were mixed feelings because on the one hand they gave me the medal, for example, from London, before Rio, but it was a bittersweet feeling. It was thank you because the truth had been uncovered, we all knew that there was corrupt weightlifting, but I didn’t think it would be uncovered,” Valentin confessed in an interview facilitated by the organization of the María de Villota Awards, of which the Leonese is one of the winners of this edition.
Of all these “dark moments” of weightlifting, Valentín wants to look at “the positive”, even though “the only moment on the podium” in London and Beijing has been taken away from him. “When someone looks for the weightlifting medals in the Games, Lydia Valentín’s gold medal will always appear. I can sleep peacefully because no one will come to my house to ask me for the medals,” she commented.
The former athlete considers that “things are being done better now,” but that the highest bodies of this sport cannot be trusted because “there is still room for improvement.” “This is not a question of sport, it is a question of values,” he stressed.
Furthermore, the triple Olympic medalist sees herself as “a pioneer” of weightlifting, and although there were previously “European champions and great weightlifters”, she believes that “none with as much impact” as the one she had. “No world or Olympic medals had been achieved, there were others with great milestones like Estefanía Juan, who won European medals, but with the world and Olympic medals, everything multiplies and reaches more people,” he pointed out.
Weightlifting came into his life at the age of 11 as “just another extracurricular class.” “I always say that weightlifting chose me. I was a girl who really liked sports, I always went to practice when I was little, basketball or athletics, and one day the weightlifting coach proposed it to me,” she explained. .
“I watched the kids practice and I liked it, although I didn’t have much interest because it wasn’t as attractive as other team sports. I really loved the atmosphere there, I really liked the games and I liked that dynamic that was created so much. that I ended up focusing on weightlifting,” Valentín recalled.
In his record, in addition to the three Olympic medals, four world championships and twelve European medals stand out in his “twenty years in high performance”, a “truly complicated” journey in which he shared “very good moments”, but without forgetting that high performance “it demands exclusivity and an absolute for and for.” “And that is something you should be clear about,” he warns.
“You like what you do, you make an effort to do it, to have things very clear and never give up because sometimes the road is long. When you have achieved an important challenge, you can lose motivation and staying there is trying to repeat the unrepeatable” , he added in this regard.
“MANY ARE CALLED AND FEW ARE CHOSEN IN HIGH PERFORMANCE”
The former athlete also knows that during her sporting career she could not take stock of her successes because she had to “continue to pursue the next goal,” while a year after her retirement, she continues training and training online “to reach more.” points geographically”. “I am training people who want to learn in this sport. I have sports-related projects for this year. In the end, I will take advantage of a little of the knowledge that I have been acquiring throughout my career and my experiences in high competition,” he remarked.
“Depending a little on his age. If he is a kid who is starting out with enthusiasm, I would tell him to enjoy it, not to take any steps forward, to improve daily, to go day by day. This is competition and sometimes things don’t go the way you want, but with effort, work and dedication, you always give your best version. Being a high-performance athlete is a blessing, many are called and few are chosen. If you are an athlete who is preparing for the Games, you have to make the most of the experience and give your maximum performance. “he stressed about advising young people sports talents.
Spanish weightlifting was not represented at Paris 2024 “due to a series of circumstances” such as “the top players” had withdrawn and “the best in Spain were going through an injury.” “In the recent World Cups, Marcos Ruiz has won two medals and that is a milestone. I consider that there are very good people like Marcos or David Sánchez. Great work is being done from the High Performance Center. There has been a generational change for that they can go to Los Angeles,” he admitted.
The Leonese made these statements before receiving the María de Villota Award on January 13 for her career and values. “It is a pride, when Emilio de Villota passed it on to me, it was an honor, especially for valuing my sports career for so many years,” he confessed, happy to be “on a super list” of winners.
Lydia Valentín recognizes that she shares with María de Villota being pioneers in their sports. “Our sport is known because of us. By being pioneers in your discipline, people think of you and think of your sport. Few people have done it, María and I have that connection,” she concluded.