Lhe presentation of the Spanish flag bearers for the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, Támara Echegoyen and Marcus Cooper Walz, also served to announce the team that will participate in the French event, which will be 345 athletes (171 men and 174 women). Of course, the final delegation is waiting for the classification of the men’s basketball team to be finalized, which will play its Pre-Olympic Championship in Valencia next week, and for the Spanish Athletics Championship to be held this weekend in La Nucía (Valencia), where the list of the most emblematic sport of the Games will be defined and expanded.
That is why The forecasts point to a total of 378 athletes (196 men and 182 women), a figure that would greatly exceed the 337 who competed three years ago in Tokyo.. Only in Barcelona 1992, where Spain served as host and as such was exempt from the harsh qualifying process, was the delegation larger, reaching 421 athletes.
Furthermore, in the absence of Spanish weightlifting, led by David Sánchez (-73 kilos), being present in Paris thanks to the reallocation of places, There are only three sports in which our country will not have participants: rugby 7, wrestling and breakingdebuting in disciplines such as surfing, 3×3 basketball and trampoline gymnastics.
Hopefully we will be lucky so that Paris will give us what we have achieved over the last three years with the best results ever in World Cups and Europeans. I think that in Paris we will have the best successes in the history of Spanish sport in the Games
A fact that has highlighted Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), during the presentation of the Spanish flag bearers for Paris: “To qualify for the Games is to be part of the group of those chosen and that is already a success in itself.”
The Galician leader also highlighted the parity between men and women in the Spanish Olympic Team for Paris: “We are going to have 52% men and 48% women and it is a trend that is repeated because in Rio 2016 it was already 53% men and 47% women”.
The CSD has done its homework with the financial support provided by the new Team Spain, which is a program that is here to stay
White, which highlighted Spain’s strength in team sports, assured that it was “a magical day. Hopefully we will be lucky so that Paris will give us what we have achieved over the last three years with the best results ever in World Cups and Europeans. “I believe that in Paris we will have the best successes in the history of Spanish sport in the Games.”
Also present at the event was president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), José Manuel Rodríguez Uribeswho praised the work done in recent years: “Today is a great day. We can say that we have all done our homework. Of course our athletes, who have done a job of effort and sacrifice that has taken them to Paris, and then also the federations, who do a silent job with that vocation for excellence.”
“As for the CSD, it has done its homework with the financial support provided by the new Team España, which is a program that is here to stay. We are a great team that is the Spain brand. It is an absolute success to classify so many athletes and we have to be proud of it“said Rodríguez Uribes.
