“It has been the World Cup of our dreams, we cannot ask for more. This is amazing, I really don’t have words to explain it right now. We have enjoyed it like never before, it has been an incredible competition and the girls have said that it has been the best competition of their sports career”, said the national coach Alejandra Quereda this Sunday after the end of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championship held in Valencia.
Spain will never forget what they experienced in the Valencian capital. The Spanish team leaves the World Cup with the bronze medal in the all-around competition in sets, thus revalidating the one achieved in the 2022 Sofia World Cup, and the silver medal in the five-ring final by Ana Arnau, Inés Bergua, Mireia Martínez, Patricia Pérez and Salma Solaún and the Olympic classification of Polina Berezina and Alba Bautista.
The coach and Olympic runner-up explained after winning silver in the team’s five-ring final that they knew they were arriving in great shape: “The girls were more prepared than ever, but you have to perform at the right time and the job has come out . Some successes have arrived that make us super proud”.
Now, both the team and the individual teams have their minds set on Paris 2024. “This World Cup motivates us for the Olympic Games and we are looking forward to the season. We have dreamed and we have achieved it. We are proud of the work shown”, said the Valencian Mireia Martínez, to which Inés Bergua added that “we are super motivated and happy, because we know that we can still do much more. Now it’s time to celebrate and rest for a few days.”
Alba Bautista and Polina Berezina, who finished the competition on Saturday, agreed that now it’s time to recover and come back strong to prepare for the Games. “After a vacation I will come back strong to prepare new exercises to fulfill my great dream, which is to go to the Olympic Games. In Valencia I have done my job that I have been training for so long and I have brought out my star”, said Bautista, who finished eighth in the all-around competition. Berezina, who was fourteenth, said she was proud of herself. “It is true that throughout my sports career many people have told me to protect me ‘leave it, focus on something else, why do you need to continue with this’ and also others who did not trust me. Now I am going to fulfill my dream, which is to go to the Olympic Games”.
Since 2000, when Almudena Cid and Esther Domínguez participated in the Sydney Games, Spain did not have two representatives in individual rhythmic gymnastics. Now the countdown begins for the great Parisian event in which Spain will have the highest representation in rhythmic gymnastics.
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/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/ARN56EOVE65E3DVBE63G5KE4NQ.jpg "A powerless Spain collapses against the Netherlands (29-21) and depends on a carom to go to the women's handball pre-Olympic 5")
