Violinist Trave at 89 hundredths of a bronze

Being born on January 6 gives you a direct connection to the Three Wise Men. Mikel Trave Pujal (24) probably once dreamed of seeing himself on the Olympic podium with a medal around his neck, and he came very close to it at Paris 2024. After a semi-final in which he posted the second fastest time (96.69), behind only France’s Nicolas Jestin, a big favourite due to being a three-time world medalist, and showed off his exquisite technique in some very tricky final doors. And In the final round of twelve he again made a superb descent (95.92) at the Marine Stadium in Vers-sur-Marne, but a touch at gate 14 left him without silver, despite a penalty of 89 hundredths of a bronze from an added two-second penalty, for a total of 97.92. Gold went to Guestin (91.36).

“Right now I screwed up. It’s not easy to be that close and make him run away, but this is the game and we came to play. There are a lot of details to control and what happened to me at Gate 14 is a matter of sport. A few centimeters away from a medal to fifth place. All doors are dangerous, all have two sticks that you need to pass through in the middle without touching them. In the 23rd you need to be very careful and pass all the suits well. This sport can be brutal at times, but it is neither fair nor unfair. In the end, the best in the world can lose, and the worst in the world can win. This time it was my turn to leave the stands.”Trave explained to the media present before he was positive and said: “I still have the kayak cross here and I will try to use all my strength and anger to achieve a good result. And then think about Los Angeles in 2028, where I’ll be even hungrier.”

The athlete from Lleida, who alternates between C1 and K1 in the slalom, came fourth in the modality in which the paddler rests his knee on it and forms a 90-degree angle, paddling with a single-bladed oar alternately on both sides. He demonstrated his beautiful artistic style, not at all aggressive, Trave flows with liquid elements, without aggression. “Water always flows left, right or down, and there are always movements that, if you know how to read it and use it to your advantage, you will spend half the energy of those who do not,” he explains, as if he had picked up a brush and painted a masterpiece. Eight years of playing the violin gave him virtuosity. It also helps you focus in moments of maximum stress and gives you the extra patience needed to play a stringed instrument. Like when it helped him breathe and decide not to give up canoeing after being eliminated from the Tokyo Games. In fact, he used it as a motivational catapult to become who he is today through more work.

Increase

“With confidence, but without trust” is a phrase he repeats almost like a mantra, and one his coach told him when he moved up from the juniors to the seniors in 2017. “If you trust yourself, you can always make a small mistake, a small mistake that will cost you a medal, a final, or what you are fighting for. But if you are not confident in your abilities, it is also difficult to perform. You have to trust yourself, but not trust what will happen,” Trave eloquently explains.

And at the canoe resort of Vers-sur-Marne, 22 kilometers from Paris, the place where Mayalen Chorrot also failed to add his metal poker yesterday, Trave was very close to achieving his goal, 89 hundredths away from bronze. Junior World Champion in both C1 and K1, Trave is a natural paddler. He was born in La Seo d’Urgell (Lleida), grew up in the Cadí Canoe Kayakel club and used the Parque del Segre as his “ball court”. He is the son of the coach of the Spanish team at the Atlanta Games in 1996. It was Xavier who made him take the bait of his passion for this sport. And the one who brought him to the Cadí Canoe kayak, where Miquel began to make friends and feel the passion for white water, playing with them.