The Olympics opened in Paris last night and Mallorca has quite a few representatives in the games and has been the training ground for many individuals and teams leading up to it. Here are all of our athletes and the sports they are competing in.
Adrián Abadía (Palma) Synchronised 3m springboard.
Álex Abrines (Palma) Basketball.
Nacho Baltasar (Palma) Sailing. iQFOiL.
Paula Barceló (Palma) Sailing. 49er FX.
Mariona Caldentey (Felanitx) Football.
Juana Camilión (Palma) Basketball 3×3.
Cata Coll (Marratxí) Football.
Marcus Cooper (Oxford) Canoeing. K4-500, K2-500.
Sergio de Celis (Palma) Swimming. 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m breaststroke.
Rudy Fernández (Palma) Basketball.
Mavi García (Marratxí). Road cycling.
Hugo González (Palma). Swimming. 200m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 4×100 freestyle.
Patri Guijarro (Palma) Football.
Joan Toni Moreno (Pollença). Canoeing. C2-500.
Nicolau Mir (Palma). Artistic gymnastics. Teams and individual.
Jaume Munar (Santanyí) Tennis. Individual.
Rafael Nadal (Manacor) Tennis. Singles and doubles.
Alba Torrens (Binissalem) Basketball.
It is the first time ever that 3 athletes from Mallorca have competed in the same team. Mariona Caldentey from Felanitx, Cata Coll from Portol and Patri Guijarra from Palma will compete together in the women’s football.
Gymnast Nicolau Mir is from the Xelska Gymnastics Club in Palma, who we sponsor at Pirates.
Basketball player Rudy Fernandez will be competing in his sixth Olympic Games and is considered to be the Spanish flag bearer at the closing ceremony of Paris’24.
Rafa Nadal will compete in his last Olympics and possibly his last competitive matches in Paris. He will play in both the Men’s singles event, and he will team up with Wimbledon Champion Carlos Alcaraz in the Men’s doubles.
Marcus Cooper was born in Oxford, England, to an American father and a British/German mother, the family moved to Mallorca when Cooper was 3 months old. The Spanish Olympic Committee selected Cooper, together with women’s sailor Tamara Echegoven as the flag bearers for the country.
With Mallorca having such a plethora of great sporting facilities, with great all year round weather and being easily accessible. There has been no shortage of teams and individuals training here pre-Olympics.
Matthew O’Connor who runs the Best Swim Centre in Ses Salines told me “We have had the New Zealand, Croatian, Norwegian and Bosnian national swim teams, who all just left for Paris in the last few days. The Canada open water swim team arrived this past week. Then the New Zealand, Croatian and Czech Paralympic teams arrive over the next few weeks.”
From The Best Swim Centre, Real Mallorca’s training ground, Rafa Nadal’s tennis centre, the Palma cycling Velodrome, the Son Hugo dive centre and the athletics stadium in Magaluf, there is no shortage of facilities. Add in the road cyclists, the sailors, the canoeists, the basketball players and many more, you can see why Mallorca not only produces great athletes but has all the facilities to help many others from around the World.
Richie is the MD at Pirates, the island’s number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos. Subscribe to receive his blogs at http://www.dadtaximallorca.com
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Dad Taxi Mallorca 