Carmen Valero, the first Spanish Olympic athlete, has died

Sad news to start the new year 2024. Very bad. Carmen Valero one of the pioneers of the Spanish sport died at the age of 68 in Sabadell (Barcelona). Born in Castelsers, Teruel, Carmen Valero was a woman and an athlete ahead of her time. He started in athletics with the coach Joseph Molins in 1969 in Joventut Atlética de Sabadell -died in March- and had an amazing career.

He was Spanish Youth Champion (1970, 1971), won eight Spanish Championships in the senior category, 15 Spanish Track Championships and was the Spanish record holder in 800, 1500 and 3,000 meters.

She was an athlete who won both inside and outside our borders, but Valero will always be seen in history for being the first Spanish woman to participate in several Olympic Games (Montreal 1976) at the age of only 21 –where he ran the 800 and 1,500 trials, in addition to winning two world cross country titles in Chepstown (Great Britain) 1976 and Dusseldorf (Germany) 1977-, became the first Spanish athlete to become world champion.

He also participated in European Championships from 1974 and 1978 and after retiring from high competition he was a director of Spanish Athletics Federationhey vice president of Sabadell Swimming Club.

Her contribution to women’s sport and athletics was very important, especially in Spain, at a time when women did not progress easily despite the important space that seemed to be reserved for them, which International Athletics Federation recognized the winner of the great races, such as Jean Bouin (1986)the best Spanish athlete of the 20th century.

Passionate about athletics since childhood

His passion for the sport has not changed since he took his first steps. When I was little and lived Cerdanyola His father put bells on his ankles to keep him in check and hear where he was going in his constant race with men, with whom he bet marbles and with whom he usually won so, in the end, they left him, himself. in an interview given to EFE Agency.

His beginnings in athletics were not easy and he had to break many barriers. “I ran on the street with fellow athletes and when they insulted me, they defended me,” he recalls, surprised, because his own father did not put any obstacles in his ability to run in shorts.

Little respect for women is evident the year he won his first World Cup, in 1976, and last year he was third. The manager on duty told the participating athletes that they were “big asses and busty,” and assumed they had no chance of doing anything important. Carmen did not forget these words and just 20 years before reaching the finish line and seeing that she had a big advantage in the second classified, she came to where the manager was, put her arms on her hips and said: ” Big asses and busty girls.” the Spanish ones, right?”, when he was telling her: “Very good, Carmen, champion.”

She showed the way to all the women who wanted to break free from what was established, no longer in the world of sports and athletics, but in Spanish civil society since the past years. Rest in peace.