The Olympic water polo champions, received in style in Barcelona

The Spanish water polo teams They arrived this Monday early in the morning in Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Olympic Games in Paris. The man he has done it after him sixth place in the Olympic event, a result in which they were unable to culminate in a big way a cycle that had been brilliant, with world and European titles. A few minutes later the women’s groupwith great joy after announcing Saturday olympic champion after defeating Australia in the grand final.

With medals around their necks, with chants of ‘champions, champions’ and ‘yes, yes, the gold is here’, the gold medalists received a warm welcome from family, friends, clubs, fans and establishments related to their sport. . This victory marks the closing of a circle that was opened twelve years ago which caused them to win absolutely everything in their sport.

Laura Ester, Isabel Piralkova, Anni Espar, Pili Peña, Bea Ortiz, Martina Terré, Paula Leitón, Elena Ruiz, Maica García, Judith Forca, Paula Camus, Paula Crespí and Nona Pérez They are the girls who achieved the great dream of fighting the previous generation where they used to be Laura, Anni, Pili and Maica. All this, under the orders of the technical team led by Miki Oca. Miki and Laura, certainly, were the two big absentees on arrival, as they traveled directly to Madrid.

The goalkeeper Martina Terre He was very satisfied with the success achieved. “This is a great gold work of them all. We worked hard to be here today with a medal around our neck. We’re happy because it’s gold, but even more because we did well“, he highlighted.

Martina He recalled one of the key moments of the championship, the penalty that stopped Brigitte Sleeking in the semi-final shootout, which eventually led to Maica García’s conviction. “They scored all the penalties and that gave us confidence. It just put a hand to stop some“, he explained. “I was left with the experience of some very cool days. They were my first Games and on top of that I won a medal. Living with them is the greatest thing. This is the end of a job done in this group. There are colleagues who have been there since 2008 and this is the icing on the cake of their work.“, he thanked his colleagues for their support.

A debutante like Martina Paula Crespí. “We managed the championship every day, focusing on every moment. The team came together a lot and grew tactically and individually and as a group in and out of the water,” explained Paula as a key to the final result. “We have gone from less to more and that has given us the final push”, he highlighted.

Crespí analyzed the importance of such an important moment of the championship as the victory in the first period against USA. “It gave us a push to see that we were doing things properly and that we can compete with all the teams, that we can go all out,” he said. Another important moment was the semifinals against Netherlands. “It’s an exciting game, with a lot of ups and downs, it’s crazy. But we pulled it off. There is always pressure, so we try to be very focused. After 1-6 in the third quarter we knew we had to continue, that we couldn’t quit,” Paula said.

This was the great moment of the championship leading up to the final against Australia. “The fact that the United States was not there did not change anything. Australia deserved to be there because they had a fantastic tournament. We know we have to do everything and play a very serious game to win gold,” said Paula, who is already looking to the future. “It’s a dream come true, but we have to keep going and keep going for more”has closed.

A dream from many years ago came true

One of the veterans of the group who has been chasing Olympic gold for many years is Annie Espar. “We worked and dreamed to live in this moment. We achieved it and I am very satisfied with the work done and very grateful for all the people who have supported us,” she commented. “When we were in the water and we saw that there were less than two minutes left in the finals. , you have seen the fight It is ours. Seeing my teammates and being excited is something very special that I carry with me. My sister was in the stands and she knows how hard it is to achieve this,” Anni added. “Now it’s time to enjoy the moment,” she concluded.

At these Games in Paris, Spain had a big challenge to complete a very difficult period that did not give any rest to the players. European runners-up in January, world bronze in February and with a busy second half of the club season, with European national water polo dominating overall, Olympic gold was the icing on the cake of their massive ambition to want to win it all.

Happy for the milestone achieved, the girls highlighted that they will take a well-deserved rest in the coming days after completing the dream of their sports careers. Since 2012, Spain has achieved one Olympic gold and two silver medals; one gold, three silver and one bronze in the world, and three gold, one silver and one bronze in Europe.