Peleteiro: “Most athletes don’t read the rules; the rules are there to be followed”

Ana PeleteiroOlympic bronze medalist in the triple jump at Tokyo 2020, issued a statement this Friday to comment on the criticism of some athletes who have not yet been called for the European Championships in Rome and declared that “The majority of athletes do not read the standards, the rules are there to be followed and, even if it is difficult to understand, the standards protect the athlete, they do not contradict them.”

Two days after the RFEA announced the list of those selected for the European Championships in Rome based on the criteria established months ago, Ana Peleteiro wants to express her opinion on the chaos caused by some athletes who, without achieving the minimum of the federation, they could have become the continental championship through the World Ranking.

“Each Championship has certain classification forms and each federation adds its internal rules to carry out the election of the national team. These internal rules are decided before the development season and presented to the public so that all athletes know the selection rules,” declared Peleteiro, in his statement published on Instagram.

“Most athletes do not read these criteria and do not know how the selection process actually works, which causes many people to complain about not being selected, but they do not know that they do not really meet the requirements in the performance they set. ” RFEA requested,” admitted the Galician athlete, assuring that he was not president and that Raúl Chapado -president of REFEA- or José Peiró -national coach-, did not pay him to write it.

“Actually, for a federation to create selection criteria and it’s not a free decision, cronyism or anything, like it can happen in other countries, it protects the athletes. The RFEA minimums are easier than the European Federation and the only thing that the RFEA requires is to show that, despite perhaps having a mark from a year ago, in the same period (from January 1, 2024) it is shown that we are again in good physical condition, to really fight to get a good result,” he said.

“Honestly, I know that there may be athletes struggling because it is exciting for any athlete to participate in an international championship, but the rules are there to follow and no matter how difficult it is to understand, the standard protects the athlete , they don’t contradict them,” he said.

“I want us to look at the selection processes of neighboring countries like France, Great Britain or Italy, not to mention the United States, which have been really serious and strictly followed for many years. But we also have to think about in the countries where these standards do not exist and favoritism and cronyism continue to exist. That is a real danger and violates the rights of the athletes,” he concluded.