The Montserrat Caballé Auditorium has been the scene of the award ceremony of the IV Sports Awards of Arganda del Rey, with which the town council has wanted to reward and value the effort and example offered by the athletes of the municipality that have stood out in recent years, as well as the people and entities that, with their work, have contributed to the promotion of Sport in Arganda. The event was led by the journalist Marta Critikian, and was attended by the mayor, Guillermo Hita; the Councilor for Sports, Eugenio Dionisio; and other representatives of the Municipal Corporation, as well as representatives of local sports clubs and associations.
The first to receive their recognitions have been the athletes of the educational centers, some awards chosen by the AMPAS of each center. The winners have been: Sofía Roa (CEIP Carretas), Sofía Rodríguez (CEIP Nuestra Señora de la Milagrosa), Silviu Darius Liulea (CEIP San Juan Bautista), Rubén García (CEIP Miguel Hernández), Raúl Espinosa (CEIP Federico García Lorca), Sofía Gallarte (CEIP León Felipe), Gonzalo Plata (CEIP Rosalía de Castro), Lidia Córdoba (IES El Carrascal), Cristian Alexandru Miresan (IES José Saramago), Álvaro García-Ortiz (Colegio Malvar), Emma Quintana (CEIP Benito Pérez Galdós ), Paula Ruiz (SEI Virgen de la Soledad College) and Catalin Ionut Matei (APSA Center).
In this edition, as a novelty, each sports club has awarded a Sports Merit award to a member of its entity. In this case, the awards have been delivered in three blocks: individual sports, team sports and sports on wheels. All the winners have been: Men’s 4×100 sub18 Team (Arganda Athletics Club), Daniela Campos (Arganda Rhythmic Gymnastics Club), Ramón Vázquez (Arganda Tennis and Paddle Club), Victoria Ayensa and Carmen Samaniego (Arganda Paddle Club), Rubén Atienza (Arganda Club Petanca Arganda), Carlota Rodríguez (Club Deportivo Malvar), David Merino (Club Iaido San Gaku Kai), Estela Serrano (Judo Club Arganda), Isabel Bernal (Club Iván Leal), Javier Atucha (Club Natación Arganda), Pedro Almazán (Club Salvamento Arganda), Alfonso Moreno (Arganda Diving Club), Manuel Salcedo (Arganda Sports Group), José Juan García (Arganda Soccer School), Samuel Vadillo (La Poveda Sports Union), David Nistal (Arganda Futsal), Almudena Huerta (Basketball Club Arganda), Gonzalo Navarro (Arganda Volleyball Club), Aitor Sánchez (Arganda Skating Club), Pedro Flores (Flores Racing Team), Alfonso Mercado (Seral Bike), María Nieto (Arganda Triathlon Club) and Andrés Sacristán (Suaves Cycling Club).
Next, two Special Prizes have been awarded, which have gone to María Horche, who has proclaimed herself the Spanish Boxing Champion and has participated in the World Championship, and to Andrea Herrera, who was proclaimed World Champion and revalidated her title Spanish Dressage Champion with her horse Rock Star.
The two awards for Best Sportsman of the Year have gone to Sergio Lozano, a player for FC Barcelona and the Spanish Futsal Team, voted best player in the world and best player last season; and Beatriz Neila, three-time European motorcycling champion, proving herself to be the true dominator of this discipline. For its part, the Arganda Basketball Club has received a Special Mention for its 25th anniversary promoting sport in our town.
The most emotional moments of the afternoon came with the Award for a life dedicated to sport, which went to Manuel Peinado, who was a sports worker and president of the Arganda Swimming Club for many years; and with the Prize for Values in Sport, which went to Federico Díez, from the Iván Leal Club, an athlete who was proclaimed the Spanish Para-Karate Champion.
To close the ceremony, and before the traditional family photo, the mayor of Arganda, Guillermo Hita, presented our town’s candidacy for the European City of Sports 2024.
