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AS reunites Olympic medalists to mark 25th anniversary of Barcelona Games

19-07-2017

Marking 25 years since the most important event in the history of Spanish sport and 50 years since the birth of the sports newspaper AS, the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) in Barcelona yesterday hosted an extraordinary event, celebrating the anniversaries of two events whose fates were destined to be intertwined. The Barcelona Olympic Games were held from July 25 to August 9, 1992 and the first issue of the newspaper AS hit the stands on 7 December 1967, with the button on the printing press pushed by none other than Juan Antonio Samaranch, former National Delegate of Sports, and then, from 1980 to 2001, president of the International Olympic Committee.

The celebrations brought together nearly 200 of the 420 athletes to have won a total of 151 medals for Spain in the history of the Olympic Games. Of these, 22 were won in Barcelona in 1992, an event that changed Spanish sport forever. All the previous 15 games had garnered Spain a total of 26. The event, held in the the striking Oval Room at the MNAC, was presented by Dani Garrido, anchor of Cadena SER’s Carrusel Deportivo, and featured the man who lit the Olympic cauldron, Epi, and the arrow shot by archer Antonio Rebollo.


It was a moving get-together for many of the medalists, including Fermín Cacho and Miriam Blasco, the first female Spanish athlete to win Olympic gold, and members of the women's hockey and men's football teams, who triumphed in 1992. They were joined by medalists from other Olympic Games, including hockey players who won bronze in Rome in 1960 – with 84-year-old Carlos del Coso the oldest attendee. All were posed for group photos at the Olympic Stadium, shortly before the start of the celebrations.

Following a rendition of the Olympic anthem by the Coral Sant Jordi, Alfredo Relaño, editor of AS opened the proceedings by stressing the importance of both anniversaries and paying tribute to Juan Antonio Samaranch: "He made getting the Games a lifelong cause and he managed it. His achievement changed Barcelona, changed Spanish sport and changed how the world saw Spain ". He added that journalism is “a happy space”. "In these 50 years, AS has grown alongside Spanish sport. When we first hit the stands, sport was dominated by the Big Three: football, cycling and boxing. But back then, in the sixties, other sports were also emerging, thanks to lone heroes, who seemed to come out of nowhere. They opened up the world of Spanish sport, allowing it to take on the world over the course of those unforgettable days in Barcelona in 1992 ​​".

Epi, the last athlete to carry the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony, spoke on behalf of the medalists – and of his childhood dreams: the Olympic parade, the lighting of the cauldron, the medals. All three came true. "Before ‘92 we had to look to other countries to learn. Since then, we are leaders in many sports and now other countries look to us".
José Ramón Lete, President of the Higher Sports Council, said Barcelona ‘92 was a turning point: "It was a project that involved all of Spain. We need merely recall the words of Juan Antonio Samaranch when he said, 'these were the best Games in the history of the Olympics'. Many of us still believe that to be the case.”

Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, paid tribute to the medalists: "All medals are important and have their meaning. But one thing unites you all: you never gave up on your dreams and there are no barriers that you cannot overcome. For you is the glory and posterity". Manuel Mirat, CEO of Grupo Prisa, together with the CEO, Juan Luis Cebrián, closed the event with a toast to the two anniversaries, the 50th anniversary of the newspaper AS and the 25th of Barcelona 1992.

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