MADRID, 9 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The athlete María Pérez, Olympic champion in the mixed walking relay in Paris 2024 along with Álvaro Martín, confessed that, if she is given the Princess of Asturias Award, she prefers to receive it with the Extremaduran walker, since they have made history “together” and ” It would be closing the full circle”, at the same time that he defended that he will experience the sport “in another way”, enjoying “more” and “without that pressure of wanting a medal.”
“I know that there is a candidacy (for the Princess of Asturias Award), I don’t pay much attention to it, but I would only need that. If I receive it, I will be happy, and if not I will continue competing. I would exchange those two medals to have what I have today. today. The best thing I have is that the school where my family has studied has my name. I would repeat the moments a thousand times for the medals,” he expressed at the Europa Press Sports Breakfasts with the collaboration of Joma, Loterías and State Bets, Mondo and Vithas.
However, the woman from Granada defended that she prefers to receive the Princess of Asturias award alongside Extremaduran athlete Álvaro Martín, with whom she won gold in the mixed walking relay at the Paris Olympic Games. “We have made history together, it would be closing the full circle,” he applauded.
“I’m going to miss him, not only as an athlete, but also as a friend. With very few people I have the problem of understanding myself just by looking at each other. I could only say one person. Egoism is a key piece, and there are people who don’t know how to extrapolate that selfishness or individuality in an event like the relay, you don’t compete, a country competes,” he added about Martín, who retired after the last Games at the age of 30.
In that Olympic event this summer, Pérez also won silver in the individual event, although he insisted that it has not “changed his life at all, personally, although now he doesn’t have as much time.” acts and so on. “But I’m still the same person who walks around Granada, although everyone recognizes me much more,” he said.
And to continue with your feet on the ground, your family is key, who “will always be there through thick and thin,” especially in a 2024 that “has not been easy.” “If I have to emphasize something about the Games, it is that I was lucky enough to experience the most important moment with my parents,” he thanked, before remembering his parents’ hug before standing on the Olympic podium. “It’s a hug that I will never forget. They also suffer, it was the reward for everyone after a bad year,” he recalled.
“I am who I am thanks to my family, we have to be aware that what we have is thanks to older people. We cannot let ourselves be trampled by what society entails, without forgetting that our society is much better than the one they lived in “I come from depopulated Spain and there I am one more. The essence of each one is what we live in the first years of life,” she said.
“I’M NOT AFRAID OF RETIREMENT”
María Pérez started marching when she was only 11 years old and “by chance,” because “she didn’t even know what it was.” 2In 2008, Paquillo Fernández – Olympic silver medalist in Athens 2004 – went around schools recruiting children to practice sports, and I have also been discovering walking on TV, but I was very lazy. I have fallen into the discipline with the most medals in Spanish sport, I am lucky. There are many references of which there are few left,” he said about his first contacts with the march.
Now, with the ‘Triple Crown’ after adding the Olympic gold to the titles achieved in the European and World Championships in 2018 and, with a double in 20 and 35 kilometers, 2023, she is the reference, and she did not hesitate to criticize the constant change of distances in the discipline, after the 50 and 20 kilometers were removed from the Games. “Every year we have to get used to a new circumstance that does not happen in other tests,” he said.
“And a good part of the injuries come from that stress. We said we wanted respect (for deciding what distance would be run in Paris just a few months before). I have a few Games left, and I would like my discipline to continue, but I’m afraid that the walk and the marathon come out of the World Athletics Championships. There are other events that have much more impact. Are they laughing at us? Well, we don’t know… Stress is not only generated by training, but also by the media hype. whenever there is a significant change in “A sport is when there are the most injuries,” he denounced.
Orce, 28, understands that federations look for events that are “more attractive to the spectator”, even with the incorporation of new technology, but only “if things are done well.” Furthermore, she sees the role of the judges as crucial, who according to the Spanish walker do not have the same level in Spain as in other countries.
“In Spain, the judges are very good, and in countries where there is not so much marching… In Hong Kong you don’t see as much marching, the standard is the same but the style is not the same,” he reflected, before evaluating the style of the Brazilian Caio Bonfim, silver in Paris 2024 ahead of Álvaro Martín. “I don’t like the way he walks. Álvaro’s style is more elegant, but if the rest complies with the regulations…”, he commented on the Rio athlete, who received some warning for bending his knee.
“I DON’T HAVE THE PRESSURE OF HAVING TO PROVE, I ALREADY HAVE ALL THE MEDALS”
With the ‘Triple Crown’ on his record, Pérez is already setting his goal of the World Cup to be held in Tokyo (Japan) between September 13 and 21, 2025, where he does not know if he will double the distance. An event that you will face without pressure. “The following year you always lower your level a little, due to stress and peaks in form. I deserved a break and enjoy what I achieved in Paris, because I don’t know if it will be repeated,” he said.
“It motivates me to continue improving technically, to try to be the best in a distance two years later. The easiest thing would have been to retire now, when I have achieved everything, but we are the example and reflection of many children, I would give them the message of that I give up when I have everything,” she added, before reiterating that Los Angeles 2028 will be her last Games, because afterward she wants to be a mother.
After Paris, the Granada woman does not have “the pressure to prove”, because she already has “all” the medals. “If you asked that girl from Orce, she wanted to go to the Games and that’s it. I already have everything, now I will experience the sport in a different way and I will enjoy it more, without that pressure of wanting a medal. That stress is very bad “he repeated.
“I love children, I love motherhood and it’s something that has been running through my veins for a long time. The handicap for women is that the more (elite) sport, the longer it takes to become a mother. I think I deserve another life that is not just sports, in Los Angeles I will have a very good age,” she commented on her thoughts about being a mother.
And Pérez, with a track record full of achievements, is not “scared” of retirement day. “I would be happy in any job. When I was 15 I was already working in the bars in my town. Sometimes we devalue many jobs in Spain, and this is a chain. Tomorrow, if I retire and end up working as a supermarket cashier, no problem “I’m not afraid of when it’s over, because it’s something that the athlete decides,” he concluded.