Erik Noya: “I went to Spain because my life was in danger in Venezuela”

Jay Ortiz used to student at José de Sucre National University in Caracas who took to the streets to demonstrate for the institutional crisis suffered Venezuela in 2017. Their demands were quickly silenced by Bolivarian National Police with a precise shot at chest height that ended his life. The gendarmes, who were militarized, had instructions to disperse the demonstrators and obeyed the orders without blinking and with a heavy hand. They shot a group of 81 young people without asking who they were, what their dreams were or if their mothers and fathers were waiting for them at home for dinner. And this story was repeated almost every day. The student rebels were in the crosshairs and 71 of them were killed.

good luck run Eric Noya, a student who was always concerned about defending the rights of the most disadvantaged and who was able to go out and show and come back alive to tell about it. “My dreams? Become a professional climber. And at home? My parents are already waiting for me with the table set. My grandmother always makes Galician soup”. Her father was born in Vigo and his grandparents were from In the Guarda municipality of Pontevedra. “Although I grew up in Venezuela, I have always been linked to Spain. He is part of the Galician Club”, he said.

Grow up to Caracas, the most violent city in the world with 71 murders per hundred thousand inhabitants, is a constant challenge. Crimes are committed every day by organized criminal structures, state apparatuses and ordinary citizens. “I was in dangerous situations,” he said. And in this environment grew up a boy who at the age of six discovered climbing thanks to a friend’s birthday party. “I came from a swimming environment, which was very competitive, and in climbing I discovered the opposite, with a lot of friends and I liked that,” he said. At the age of eight he started training regularly and the results were not long in coming. But the conditions in Venezuela They are very poor, with many difficulties and almost no resources to continue. “In Caracas you don’t think long term, you live day by day”. The main concerns are having a plate on the table and getting home alive.

“Dictatorships oppress people with the boot of the military,” he said. “They crush anyone who makes it difficult for them to stay in power,” he added angrily. “Dictatorships limit creativity a lot and what I’m doing, climbing fast, is something very creative and very innovative that very few people know about. You can imagine the opportunities that exist in those situations. See what’s in the news? I assure you that everything you see is true and real.” And one day he said enough. Living with all that daily stress was eating away at him, so he took his backpack and started a new life Spain. “I came closer, as they say, one hand in front and the other behind. I don’t have one and I have to start from scratch. Noya experienced the cruelty of having to live in a new country, with completely different customs and no resources. He rolled up his sleeves to enter wherever he was. He gathered people in the park to teach climbing or deliver orders to the house Wolf. “I grabbed whatever came out. I had to grow up based on wafers and I made myself a breastplate”, he assured. “When you get things so easily, they are not valued. When they are valued, you get something extra that is needed in the sport”.

And in all this panorama, he showed himself to Mmoscow world cup 2021 and became runner-up in the world of speed. “That result changed my life,” he recounted happily. He received a scholarship and moved to CAR of Sant Cugat to practice professionally. “The training conditions have improved a lot and it shows. With all my heart, I thank you very much,” he explained. “My goal Paris 2024 Games and we will go to death. The projection I have is very good. There are ups and downs, but I am optimistic,” he says. “The Olympic Games They have given a lot of popularity to climbing and that is greatly appreciated. In Spain we have to promote the speed base and that is one of my goals to give back to this country everything it has given me”.

“It shows a lot when you dedicate yourself to the one you love. Frogs come out, snakes come out, this is what I’m going to keep focusing on, that’s what I want. I love climbing, I love speed. I like to compete and it doesn’t matter what. I will continue this, whether they support me or not”, he concluded with self-esteem built on hard work and sacrifice.