MADRID, 24 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The athlete Marc Tur acknowledged that both he and other athletes “would have liked to have had personal development without prejudice or stigma” and stated that he feels proud of having taken the step to announce that he is gay because “making visible is normalizing”, after receive the Gold Medal for the Royal Order of Sports Merit from the president of the CSD, José Manuel Franco.
“My story is just one more in the fight for LGTBI rights. Every grain counts, because in many cases more than one of us would have liked to have had personal development without prejudice or stigma, because making visible is normalizing. As my coach says, first we are people before athletes and we must never forget it”, declared the Balearic athlete.
Marc Tur was “very happy” and “very proud” to receive the distinction, which has been awarded for his sporting merits and for his commitment to equality through the recognition of the LGTBI community in sport.
The athlete claims to be “on the side of equality, tolerance and respect against hatred” in the world. “In society and in sport there are values that have to be present. We are lucky that we have had to live in this time and in this place, but not for that we must forget all those who have fought to be in the place where where we are now,” he added.
Marc Tur recalled his role in Tokyo 2020, where he came fourth in the 50 km walk and jumped to the forefront of national athletics. “My performance in the Olympic Games marked a before and after for me. It was an agonizing test for 50 km in which body and mind reached an extreme that I didn’t even know I was capable of reaching,” he said.
“I fought until the last moment, I saw myself with the medal, but sport is like that and I was nine seconds away from the bronze after more than 4 hours fighting. That day I gave my one hundred percent and I am proud to have been able to be there”, he added.
FRANCO: “WE INTEND TO OVERCOME DISCRIMINATION IN SPORTS”
The president of the Higher Sports Council, José Manuel Franco, assured that the objective of this recognition was “to continue promoting diversity, plurality and respect”. “With this medal I want you to become a support point for youth,” he told Tur.
Franco wanted to “value” the courage of Marc Tur and that of other athletes who have declared themselves homosexual for “giving voice” to a group. “Something that Spanish society has a hard time accepting, because there is still resistance, and sport offers a loudspeaker that turns athletes into role models for tens of thousands of people. Your visibility helps other people to overcome their fears, insecurities and certain misunderstandings of Spanish society”, he explained.
“None of us should live with a mask because of the feelings that are aroused towards another person, none should ever be the victim of homophobic or transphobic aggression, nor should any adolescent suffer bullying for their sexual condition,” Franco said, making it clear that the CSD intends to “overcome discrimination in sport”.
Also present was the deputy general director of Women and Sports, Bárbara Fuertes, who commented that the recognition received by Marc Tur has “a double dimension” for his “sporting success” and for having “undertook a career for dignity and equality” that has “turned him into an example to follow”.
Fuertes highlighted that the case of Marc Tur encourages “many boys and girls to acquire that security through an instrument and an ally such as sport”, and that it has “opened a door for many athletes, but also for many boys and many young people, who have been silenced and now have a voice”.