Tension grows between some athletes and the Federation due to the non-call for Paris of Retamal and Víctor Ruiz
Lhe tension within Spanish athletics grew yesterday after the announcement of the team for the Paris Games. Between the 57 selected athletes – which could become 62waiting for some resignations from other countries that would make their classification via World Ranking possible – they were not Pol Retamal (200 meters) and Víctor Ruiz (3,000 obstacles).
The first had a guaranteed place via the World Ranking but had not achieved the minimum competitiveness required by the Federation. As for the second, he had the World Athletics minimum from last year but this season he had not endorsed it. Yes, the decathlete entered the call Jorge Urenawhich also did not have the minimum RFEA.
In your case, the national coach, José Peiroprioritized the fact that he is in 19th place in the world ranking – three athletes per country – while the remaining two are not among the top 40 in their respective events.
The sports management headed by Peiró has the power to make any exceptions it deems appropriate. because according to the specific preselection criteria for these Olympic Games, “in any case the discretionary technical selection criterion prevails over any circumstance of sporting performance or position in the ranking.”
This argument has certainly not been to everyone’s liking, much less the two affected, who complained bitterly on social media about their non-call. Pol Retamal, without going any further, used irony: “I deeply appreciate this new opportunity to continue training without the hindrance of an international competition that would only distract my daily routine. Your firm commitment to the demotivation of athletes is worthy of study. Thank you so much @atletismoRFEA.”
The truth is that I don’t know what to say with this strange feeling that I have between happiness, injustice and sadness.
Víctor Ruiz, for his part, published a statement in which he said, among other things, that he felt “an outrage, an injustice and a lack of excellence” on the part of those who asked him for it. “They have not been able to understand my circumstances, they have not known how to read a progression of weeks, nor have they known how to interpret a race of 3,000 obstacles like the one in La Nucía, even though they were present there. But, the worst of all, is that they have not been excellent because in the end they have not applied the same criteria for everyone.
Retamal and Víctor Ruiz immediately had the support of numerous colleagues, who also criticized the absence of both from the list. Among them was Ureña himself, who despite his call showed his displeasure at what happened: “The truth is that I don’t know what to say with this strange feeling that I have between happiness, injustice and sadness…”.
The circumstance occurs that Pol Retamal was one of the promoters of a Google form that circulated last week on social networks, emails and WhatsApp groups. Its intention was to collect signatures within the world of athletics – athletes, coaches, clubs, judges… – so that Those competitiveness criteria established by the Federation would disappear in future competitions.prevailing the minimum established by World Athletics and the World Ranking to form the national team without further restrictions.
Strong response
In the end, the media noise has reached such an extreme that the Federation has decided to respond with an extensive statement in which it responds “to the letter received on June 28, signed by some athletes, regarding the preselection criteria (… ) with the intention of clarifying to the media and fans the sports project that has been developing in recent years whose priority objective is to maximize the sports performance of the National Team“.
In this writing, the RFEA defends that has “the competence and legitimate power to establish the preselection or selection criteria” for competitions such as the Games and that its sports management has applied “an objective and fair system” for Paris 2024.
That an athlete meets the registration criteria established by World Athletics to participate in the Olympic Games or World Championships, and as established in the preselection criteria themselves, is an essential requirement but not sufficient to configure the shortlist. In no case does compliance with it grant the condition of direct preselection
“That an athlete meets the registration criteria established by World Athletics to participate in the Olympic Games or World Championships, and as established in the preselection criteria themselves, is an essential requirement but not sufficient to configure the shortlist. In no case does its compliance grant the condition of direct preselection,” he states.
The RFEA assures that The current system is not “more demanding than in previous times, as has been stated” and maintains that it has started “from a principle of transparency, integrity and objectivity, offering the same conditions to all athletes by publishing the pre-selection criteria sufficiently in advance”, something that It was done on October 25, 2023, 8 months before the end of the qualification period for the Games.
For greater transparency and knowledge, the RFEA convened a virtual meeting with all athletes and coaches with real options to participate in the Olympic Games to share and explain the rationale for the specific preselection criteria. Only one athlete attended this meeting, which, unfortunately, is not exceptional, but is normal in this type of calls.
“For greater transparency and knowledge, the RFEA convened a virtual meeting with all athletes and coaches with real options to participate in the Olympic Games to share and explain the basis of the specific preselection criteria. Only one athlete attended this meeting, which which, unfortunately, is not something exceptional, but is normal in this type of calls,” the letter reveals.
The organization chaired by Raúl Chapado insists in the statement that Its purpose is “to achieve the best possible classification both in the medal table and in the points classification” and that “the establishment of these criteria It does not seek in any case to restrict the participation of athletes, but rather to guarantee that those selected are at an optimal level of performance. in accordance with the level of each championship and the participation fees in each event”.
The same criteria in other countries
The RFEA also remembers that since the implementation of the “World Ranking” system by World Athletics, which includes results obtained from 18 months or 12 months (depending on the event) before the Championship is held, which many national federations have dictated their own performance criteria, “some with greater demands than Spain”which has increased direct aid to athletes by more than 250% in recent years, going from 1.3 million in 2016 to 4.1 million in 2023.”
“Although there is currently a covert interest in distorting reality, these have been, are and will continue to be the foundations of our sport,” points out the RFEA, while highlighting that, after the European Championships in Munich 2022, fIt was the Athletes Commission itself “which requested to establish clear, objective and transparent criteria that the athletes knew in advance.”
