“If I go to Paris to compete, I’ll get a medal” | Relief

Guadalajara is the land of basketball… and athletics. Especially when it comes to jumping. Here train Ivan Pedroso’s students, boxing legends such as Yulimar Rojas and, above all, Jordan Diaz, on whom many of the hopes of Spanish athletics are pinned to leave Paris with metal around their necks.

The Spanish national team’s jumper is one of the essential attributes of all experts, and he does not shy away from this responsibility. “Expectations? If I go to Paris to compete, I will get a medal. I will not talk about color. “Because in the end it takes the pressure off a little bit, but yes, a medal is a great goal,” said the Cuban-born athlete. to Relevo’s question during the break of a friendly basketball match between Spain and Argentina.

Diaz is one of the greatest stars of Spanish athletics competing in the Olympics, a Games where he arrives at his best moment as a professional, although his legs can always play a trick on him in events like his. “There’s always a good part and a bad part in the triple jump, but “Everything is going well at the moment.”

The jumper arrives with a guarantee of achievement gold medal at the European Championships held in Rome. The event, in which he made history as the continental champion after beating Pichardot in the final, was not without controversy. Of course, he did it with The Spanish record is 18.18 metres – and, above all, the third best record of all time.

behind only Britain’s Jonathan Edwards (1995) by 18.29 meters and America’s Christian Taylor (2015) by 18.21 meters.

“There is not much time left until Paris, and all that remains is to prepare for what is to come This will be the most important competition of my life. “Let’s hope we get there in optimal conditions,” admits Jordan, who is looking forward to arriving at the Olympic Village, although he is not yet sure which athlete he would like to meet in this space where the best in the world coexist. “At the moment, I haven’t thought about it because there are so many. “I will be very focused on my competitions and I don’t want to think about the outside world.”

Spain will be looking to improve in Paris on the only medal the team won in Tokyo, thanks to Ana Peleteiro’s bronze.

in the triple jump competition. Although, given the results and records of the athletes included in the list, one can dream of fighting for at least the best historical result of Spanish athletics at the Games: four medals in Barcelona-92. And Jordan and his confidence play an important role in this.