MADRID 13 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Their Majesties the King and Queen, Felipe VI and Letizia Ortiz, received this Wednesday the Olympic and Paralympic athletes who competed in the Paris 2024 Games at the Royal Palace of El Pardo to congratulate them on the results obtained this past summer in the French capital.
“Through your desire to compete and your enthusiasm you also demonstrate and transmit values that are important to everyone. In the face of victory and defeat, as you well know. We thank you very much. It is a very difficult path, sometimes also full of disappointments, injuries, doubts. We also want to recognize your perseverance in knowing what the goal is and making the effort to reach it,” said the monarch after the reception in statements collected on the Royal Family’s X social network.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia presided over the event attended by the Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Pilar Alegría; and the presidents of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes; from the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), Alejandro Blanco; and the newly elected of the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE), Alberto Durán.
More than a hundred Olympic and Paralympic athletes also attended, including Olympic medalists such as María Pérez, gold in the mixed relay and silver in the 20 kilometer walk; Álvaro Martín, gold in the mixed relay and bronze in the 20 kilometer walk; Francisco Garrigós, bronze in judo in the category of less than 60 kilos; flag bearer Marcus Cooper and Carlos Arévalo, who won bronze in canoeing in the K-4 500.
Likewise, the Paralympic medalists Alba García Falagán (bronze in long jump class T11), Alberto Suárez (silver in marathon T12), Nuria Marqués (silver in swimming in 100m backstroke S9 and 200 medley SM9 and bronze in 4x100m mixed styles), Kike Alhambra (bronze in swimming in 100m butterfly S13), Anastasiya Dmytriv (gold in swimming 100 breaststroke SB8 and bronze in 200 styles SM9 and 4x100m mixed styles), Yasssine Ouhdadi (gold in adapted athletics in 5000m T13), Marta Francés (silver in adapted triathlon PTS4) and Dani Molina (gold in adapted triathlon PTS3).
The badminton player Carolina Marín, who suffered a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament and the two menisci in her right knee that kept her from fighting for medals, wanted to be present at the Royal Palace of El Pardo. The runner-up in Tokyo 2020 was also Adriana Cerezo.
MEMORY FOR DANA
In his speech, the king wanted to remember those affected by DANA and valued “the effort that the world of sport in general is making.” “It has been a very strong blow. Many athletes from the area have obviously not been able to come. Some I think so. In any case, to all of them and to the entire world of sport that has been directly affected with facilities, with their own families and their own livelihoods, we want you to feel and we all feel that we also have to help through sport as is being done,” said King Felipe VI.
“These days we are demonstrating teamwork, solidarity. These are things that athletes know very well, especially those in team sports, but it is something that we also have to show outwardly, with society at this time in a very clear way. , with all those affected by DANA,” he concluded.
