Lydia Valentin has put end point to his sports career this Thursday in an event full of emotion at the headquarters of the Spanish Olympic Committee. The triple medalist is the first Spanish athlete to win an Olympic medal in weightlifting. Valentine He retires, at 38, after failing to recover from a hip injury which left her without competing in her last World Cup and without being able to participate in her fifth Olympic Games in Paris, where she had the dream of being the flag bearer.
Even so, the Leonese leaves happy with her career and proud of having become a role model. “At some point you have to close. I am 38 years old and athletes are not eternal. There has not been a moment of weakness. I love everything I’ve experienced“, he said in his farewell.
hard beginnings
Lydia Valentín grew up in Camponaraya (León) and is the daughter of teenage parents who have always supported her, since Since I was little I played pretending to compete in some Olympic Games, excited watching Barcelona 1992. In addition, she excelled in all sports, especially basketball.
At the age of 11, while she was training between baskets, Isaac Álvarez, director of her city center, noticed her and invited her to try weightlifting, a sport that only men trained. It didn’t take long for the Leonese to stand out, since she didn’t struggle with uncomfortable positions and picked up technique with ease..
Precisely at 11 years old, She had to undergo surgery and was hospitalized for months.. Lydia had suffered from infections in her urinary tract because her urethra was not working well and she was reverting to her kidneys. She explained it herself in an interview on Cadena Ser. There were months in which She trained immersed in scars that accompany her for life and that hindered his progress, just when he started in this sport.
Another setback came to his life when at the age of 12 he had to change schools to go to secondary school. This began a complicated time, since They called her boy and made fun of her. Despite this, the medalist soon stood out thanks to her character and she continued with her training.
At 15 years old she was already a double Spanish children’s champion and the Federation of weightlifting offered him to move to the Joaquín Blume Residence for elite Spanish athletes, where she trained until she became one of the best weightlifters in the world. A decision that was difficult for her family to accept, especially her father, for whom she was too young to go to Madrid.
Three-time medalist, although he only reached the podium in Rio
Valentín was a brave and pioneer of her time, as she stood out in a sport corrupted by doping and full of men. In fact, the continuity of weightlifting in the Olympic Games is being questioned precisely because of this issue.
Of his three Olympic medals, Only the bronze in Rio in 2016 was received on the podium. The othersthe London 2012 gold and the Beijing 2008 silver, he received them as doping cases of his rivals were being discovered. For this she had to wait even years, since the International Olympic Committee keeps samples of the athletes to repeat the analyzes with state-of-the-art methods and they discovered prohibited substances that caused their disqualification.
At the barbell, accumulate one palmares bright: two world titles (2017 and 2018), four European golds, five silvers and two bronzes. The last time her wristbands were seen was at the Tokyo Games, dragging on her hip problems, and where she finished tenth.
A clear sign of identity
Pink wristbands and a heart, this is how her fans will remember her. It is a gesture that began by chance, when Lydia Valentín won the bronze medal in Rio 2016 and left the 141 kilos he had lifted on the ground. It was then when he posed making a heart with his hands. A gesture that has become his hallmark since then.
Since she was little she had character, personality and a desire to succeed that neither the scars nor the ridicule took away. “I prefer to take care of my health because I have a life ahead of me,” he said in his farewell. A personality that she has used to defend the normalization of women and the diversity of their bodies in weightlifting. “I like that people see that there are many totally normal girls who practice weightlifting.. There is no prototype body. The sport goes by weight categories and you find a tall girl, another short, another chubby, another skinny, another very strong…,” she explained in an interview for the Olympics.com podcast.
Lydia is a fan of Atlético de Madrid. Fan of Cholo Simeonethe weightlifter identifies with the spirit of the club: “I am from Atlético because of its fighting spirit, for its team soul and not a group of stars. That desire for determination and improvement definitely captivated me.”
One of the best athletes in this country is leaving, but She leaves a legacy that has opened doors for many girls. She knows it well: “My future will be successful because the values of sport have toughened me up.”
2023-09-22 10:01:21
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