Other than the football, Spain won a further 3 gold medals in the Men’s Triple Jump with Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun, the Men’s Skiff with Botin/Trittel and the inaugural holding of the Marathon Race Mixed Walk Relay with Alvaro Martin /Maria Perez
To become an Olympic champion is one thing but to become the first Olympic champion is a feat that will be remembered forever.
The marathon race walk mixed relay made its Olympic debut at Paris 2024 and it was a truly global affair, with athletes from Spain, Ecuador, and Australia standing on the inaugural podium.
Spain’s Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez emerged as the first Olympic champions in this event, marking the nation’s first Olympic title in any athletics event since Rio 2016.
“This is amazing; this is history, not only for us but for Spanish race walking as well,” Martin, the individual bronze medallist in the 20km, said.
Martin had missed the podium in his three previous Olympic appearances, so this medal was extra special. “I knew this would be my last Olympic Games. I came here without an Olympic medal, and thanks to Maria, I return to Spain with two.”
Perez, who won silver in the 20km individual race, goes home having achieved the famous triple crown, winning gold in the world championships, European championships, and now the Olympic Games.
“I feel very special because it’s the first time that the triple crown has been achieved by an athlete in Spain, and I’m fortunate enough to have shared it with Alvaro,” she said.
Spain’s Jordan Diaz won gold in the men’s triple jump at the Paris Olympics on Friday with a jump of 17.86m, leading an all-Cuban exile podium.
Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo, the defending champion, took silver with 17.84m while Andy Diaz representing Italy claimed the bronze with 17.64m.
All three men were born in Cuba and represented the country before switching allegiance.
Jordan Diaz, who defected from the communist state, gained Spanish citizenship in 2022 but was not cleared to compete for his adopted country until June when he promptly won gold in the European Championships.
His victory gives Spain their first Olympic medal in the event.
In Marseille, Diego Botin and Florian Trittel stormed to Olympic men’s skiff gold just 3 weeks after winning the $2 million SailGP final in San Francisco.
After crossing the finish line off the coast of Marseille, they let their winged skiff capsize and roared with joy.
“It’s a dream come true. After years of putting the work in with the best team, with our families here, it doesn’t get any better,” Botin said, later adding in a press conference that the medals race was “a very good race at a very good moment”, which had gone far better than they had ever visualised.
At the time of writing Spain sits fifteenth in the medal table with a total of 18 medals including 4 gold, 3 silver and 8 bronze.
