MADRID, 23 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish swimmer Sarai Gascón recognizes that in Paris 2024, which will be her fifth Paralympic event, she will have “the same desire” to take on “the world” as in her first Games, and that is why she will do “everything possible” to conquer the gold medal that is missing from his record, a goal in which he will try to “enjoy the journey, fight in every training session and be consistent.”
“The Sarai who is going to participate in these fifth Games is a swimmer with much more experience but with the same desire to take on the world as when she was 15 years old. All athletes always want more and more, we want to improve our personal records, and these Games They will not be less,” he explained to Europa Press at the ‘Media Day’ organized by the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE).
Furthermore, the Catalan, who has eight Paralympic medals, confessed that she once thought that the Tokyo Games would be her last Games. “Since the Rio 2016 Games I thought it was my time to quit, but athletes have that adrenaline that we like so much about sport that we follow, since our goals are still very ambitious. So it will be the fifth Games now,” she stressed. .
“After Tokyo I thought ‘there are only three years left’. Year after year I set one goal a year, I wasn’t thinking about long-term goals like getting to the next Paralympic Games. I thought ‘this year we have the World Cup, what can I do ‘First, get the minimum to participate in the World Cup, then improve my marks to be able to fight for the podium and once there, fight for those medals. Little by little, I have been advancing until this year, with the Games, and here I am again,” he continued.
There, in the French capital, he will try to win the gold he is missing, after winning six silver and two bronze medals. “Gold is the medal that absolutely all swimmers want, me too, of course. Am I going to do everything possible to get it? Of course. It’s very difficult? Also, but that’s the fun, in fighting for the medals. The important thing is to enjoy the journey, fight in every training session, give everything possible, be consistent, and then in the Games, enjoy and give my best every time I jump into the pool,” he stated.
The Catalan also revealed what will be part of her program at the Paralympic event. “I still don’t know all the events that I am going to swim for sure, but the ones that I am going to swim are the 100 meter freestyle and 200 medley. The relays are yet to be seen, and I don’t know if I will swim any more events,” he said. “The ones where I have the most options are the 100 meter freestyle and 200 medley, and then in the relays we also have many options, but it remains to be seen who will swim,” she added.
In another vein, Gascón highlighted that it is “very important that sponsors support Paralympic sport,” but also “paralympic grassroots sport.” “And along these lines there is a sponsor that is AXA, which sponsors young swimming promises. It is very good to promote and give visibility and accompany them during this process, so that tomorrow they will be great swimmers,” he explained. .
“You also have to have references, that people who start at a very young age have references, that they see that I can get there. Having a disability does not mean that I am not capable of doing things, but quite the opposite, that they see that Those barriers can be overcome, saying ‘if this person has achieved it, why can’t I do it?’ That is why it is so important to have references in the world of sports,” he continued.
One of these great promises is the young swimmer Anastasiya Dmytriv. “Tasy is a magnificent competition partner, a teammate, and very young. She has started off strong, I have had the pleasure of having swum with her in several relays. She is an innate competitor and she is going to do very well,” he ventured.
Finally, Gascón spoke about her political experience in Terrassa, where she is the current Councilor for Sports. “They proposed it to me before the elections, it is a municipal party from my city, Terrassa, and I shared their ideals a lot. They proposed that I be able to contribute my grain of sand as a sports councilor in my city. Contributing a slightly different vision makes the city can grow by providing other perspectives,” he concluded.