Alejandro Blanco: “It is impossible to hold the Winter Olympic Games in Spain in 2030”

A year and a half from the Olympic Games in Paris, what are the COE’s sports challenges?

The big challenge is here, which is Paris. This year is a very short cycle, we actually finished in August and football started in September with the qualification for the Paris Games. The cycles are very short and the results are very good. The youngsters are performing well and the collective ones too, this is the big challenge in a short period of time in the field of sports and I am very optimistic about these Games. Another shorter challenge is the European Games (June 21 to July 2, 2023). The third edition takes on a great dimension. There are twelve European Championships, more than 9,000 athletes and it is a great test to see how we are a year from Paris.

These European Games will be more important than ever.

Definitely. You have to think that more than 50% of the medals won at the Games were won by Europe. This European Games will be a very strong test because the athletes, being a short cycle, did not have the same opportunities as before. You shorten the preparation and you are more competitive.

An appointment in Paris that will mean the last Olympic presence of two sporting references such as Mireia Belmonte and Saúl Craviotto.

You said two outstanding athletes. Mireia must be allowed to heal, and Mireia is Mireia; and Saúl went for his sixth medal. I’m convinced he gets it and my big doubt is if he doesn’t get the seventh.

Are you calm when the sports goodbye of great references like Saúl, Mireia or Rafa Nadal comes? Is there relief?

Yes. There is no other Rafa Nadal. No more Pau Gasol. There is no other David Cal. There is no other Saul Craviotto. These are unique and unrepeatable athletes, but there are good people who over time will surpass their results. Saúl had five medals, he could have gone sixth and seventh and when David took out five we said no more, and Saúl was there. We have the world legend Rafa Nadal for whom I wish the best and I want to see him in Paris. Spanish sport is very good so we are recruiting good athletes.

Does it work well, are there enough resources?

Yes, and in the case of canoeing they do an exceptional job. Last year, Spanish canoeing for the first time in history was the best in the world because of the results achieved in the World Championship and the European Championship, and if they came to what they are now they would have amazing results.

In fact, canoeing, along with sailing, were Spain’s two most successful sports at the Games.

In terms of results, sailing is a major sport for Spain. They had a period where they stayed with a good result, bronze, but now they are preparing hard for the Games. They got two medals in Tokyo and hopefully they can add to it. They do a very serious job.

Big events like the Copa América de Vela in Barcelona always help.

Obviously, the major sporting events that a country can organize help the development of the country and the image of the country, and in the case of sailing they work very well and we are very optimistic for Paris.

What is the moment of ADO Plan?

We had a bump in 2022, but now we have appointed a new director that we welcome (Jennifer Pareja) and I am convinced that we will resume ADO again because it is the main sports program of Spain. It was created with a view to Barcelona’92 and to 99% of sports athletes became calm thanks to it. This is a program with a Spanish patent, which we cannot lose.

But are there enough resources?

After the decrease in resources, thank God that the Higher Sports Council covered the athletes’ scholarships and thus they had financial assistance for training, but the idea of ​​this program is to attract private money in the world of sports. Almost no country in the world can sustain sport with only public money, what is important is the mix of public and private, and the main program in the world is the ADO Program. We have a moral duty not to lose this program and more and more companies to help Spanish sports, without asking for anything in return, but because they believe that this is the best way to benefit society.

Are companies still knocking on the ADO Program?

We had a meeting in Madrid with more than 30 company representatives and we kept getting calls. The philosophy of ADO cannot be lost, it is a big mistake for Spain and it will not be lost, what needs to be changed is the way in which the companies get the benefits. Today we have events of special interest, but there are so many that the return is not the best.

Will Spain have double flag bearers again at Paris 2024?

Yes. You have to see who qualifies and I think this is the best way. It’s one of the best things we’ve done, with the flag bearer having the most results at the Olympic level. The only option that all athletes should be equal is in the Games, and for me that was a radical change, made before I became president of the COE. It was an initiative that I raised because I didn’t see it as fair, and this system is not discussed by the athletes because they already know who the standard bearer is.

Is the 2030 Winter Olympics still possible?

We made a very strong bet, which went wrong for reasons that everyone knows, and it is impossible for 2030. What is not closed is that we can hold the Winter Games in Spain.

What term are we talking about?

We go hand in hand with the International Olympic Committee. Let’s see when he makes decisions. We are in permanent dialogue. There is a lot of interest in holding the Games in Spain, and Spain meets all the conditions, both in the mountains and at the organizational level, but we have to go with the IOC and when they tell us that this is the moment. , we will go there. I’m sure there will be a Winter Games.

Can political elections influence the candidacy draw?

Ultimately, the organization of the Games has two parts, one sporting and one political. We will do some Games when everyone is convinced that we can do them and we all row in the same direction, and if someone does not want to row, they must put it on the top of the moon before starting the game. Going for the Winter Games was an incredible experience even if it went wrong, but the seed was there.

But in the 2030 candidacy, the COE rowed well, like Catalonia and the central government, there was only one oar that didn’t work.

But this paddle is very important to the existing structure. History is what it is, what happened and we lost the chance to organize the 2030 Games, but this option cannot be thrown to the ground and we deserve a Winter Games.

Can’t the priority be changed in the Summer Games?

Right now we have the Winter Games with us. You have to think that on the 24th the Games will be in Paris, on the 28th in Los Angeles, on the 32nd in Brisbane and we are already talking about a significant distance. I can’t see. I believe that because of the level of organization and sports, Spain can organize the Summer and Winter Games, and with the new philosophy of the IOC in adapting the Games to the cities and to the social and economic reality that the world experiences, both Madrid and Barcelona are two cities to organize the Games at the level of the best cities in the world, and this is a debt they have to us. The whole system has changed. Now you are with the IOC, let’s sit at a table to see what the moment is and where to do it, above all there is a high probability that we will not make a mistake, because we are with the IOC