Tag Archives: Spain

Rafael Nadal Named to Spain’s Davis Cup Finals Roster Alongside Carlos Alcaraz

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Rafael Nadal is preparing to represent Spain once again…

The 38-year-old Spanish tennis star, who represented Spain at the 2024 Paris Games, has been named to Spain’s roster for the Davis Cup finals alongside Carlos Alcaraz.

Rafael NadalThe announcement raises the possibility of a renewal of Nadal and Alcaraz’s “Nadalcaraz” doubles partnership from the Paris Olympics.

Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, hasn’t competed anywhere since the Olympics, where he lost in the second round of singles to longtime rival Novak Djokovic and paired with Alcaraz to get to the quarterfinals of men’s doubles before exiting against Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.

Nadal then withdrew from the US Open and the Laver Cup while still dealing with health issues that’ve limited him to competing only sparingly over the past two seasons.

Alcaraz earned the men’s singles titles at the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July to raise his career Slam total to four at the age of 21.

Spain will take on the Netherlands in the quarterfinal round of the Davis Cup finals, an eight-team event November 19-24 in Malaga, Spain.

The other opening matchups are: defending champion Italy vs. Argentina; the United States vs. Australia; and Germany vs. Canada.

Mikel Merino Completes Move From Real Socieded to Arsenal

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Mikel Merino is officially switching sides…

The 28-year-old Spanish professional footballer has completed his move to Arsenal from Real Sociedad in a deal reportedly worth €37.5 million ($41.9m), per ESPN.

Mikel MerinoMerino, who has agreed to a four-year deal, was part of the Spain team that lifted the Euro 2024 title, contributing most notably with an extra-time winner against Germany in the quarterfinals.

The deal is thought to be €32.5m plus €5m in add-ons.

Arsenal sporting director and former midfielder Edu said of the transfer: “We are so happy to have completed the transfer of Mikel Merino. This has been another great team effort from many people at the club to finalize the transfer of a player who attracted interest from a number of clubs over the summer.

“Mikel was a key target for us this summer, and we identified him as a player who can fit perfectly into our squad and profile to improve us, as we aim to build on our strong performances of last season.”

Real Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil left Merino out of the squad for their LaLiga opener against Rayo Vallecano due to talks advancing with Arsenal at the time of the match, and he also did not feature in the team’s win over Espanyol last weekend.

Merino played 242 times for Real Sociedad, scoring 27 goals and adding 30 assists after signing for the Basque club in 2018.

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has been a fan of the player for some time, and believes his profile — and evolution in recent seasons — is what his team needs to pursue the Premier League title.

“Mikel will make our squad significantly stronger, with his technical ability, together with his strong and positive character and personality,” Arteta said in the news release announcing Merino’s arrival.

Spain’s Men’s Kayak Four Team Claims Bronze at 2024 Paris Games

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2024 Paris GamesSaul Craviotto, Carlos Arevalo, Marcus Cooper and Rodrigo Germade have sprinted their way to an Olympic medal.

The Spanish sprint kayakers finished in third place in the Men’s Kayak Four 500M final at the 2024 Paris Games on Thursday to earn the bronze medal.

Saul Craviotto, Carlos Arevalo, Marcus Cooper & Rodrigo Germade, SpainCraviotto, Arevalo, Cooper and Germade finished the race with a time of 1:20:05.

Germany’s team finished with a time of 1:19:80 to claim the gold; Australia’s team finished in 1:19:84 to claim the silver.

It’s Craviotto’s sixth career Olympic medal dating back to the 2008 Beijing Games. It’s Arevalo and Germade’s second Olympic medal, while it’s Cooper’s third Olympic medal.

Spain’s Artistic Swimming Team Earns Bronze at the 2024 Paris Games

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2024 Paris GamesTeam Spain is celebrating a long-awaited medal-winning performance at the 2024 Paris Games.

After three days of thrilling competition, the country’s artistic swimming team secured a bronze medal in the Artistic Swimming Team Event in Paris.

Spain's Artistic Swimming Team

The final rankings were determined by adding the scores of the Team Technical, Team Free and Team Acrobatic – on the Olympic program for the first time.

The Spanish team came into the night’s acrobatic event ranked third, but still in a tight fight with Japan and France to hang on to that position. The Spanish knew they couldn’t afford any mistakes, and handled the pressure beautifully in their “One Shot, One Opportunity” routine, which they had last showcased at the Doha World Championships.

They had an impeccable swim and reached a cumulative score of 900.7319 to clinch the bronze behind the People’s Republic of China (996.1389) in gold and the United States of America (914.3421) in silver.

“I feel really excited,” said team captain Meritxell Mas Pujadas. “It’s been a lot of work. We were really nervous before tonight, we knew that we had to fight a lot until the end, but I trusted my team and it was all worth it. It’s a lot of emotions right now…  I’m really, really, really happy. I was also nervous because it was my first time being a flier for the acrobatics. It was crazy, I had never done it, but I accepted the challenge. It was a goal for me to achieve, so I’m really happy about that too.”

“I don’t realize what’s happening yet,” Lilou Lluis Valette said. “I can’t stop crying, I can’t even find the words. We’ve been so focused since we woke up, and all day has just been perfect. Today is really a perfect day.”

Spain had finished seventh in Tokyo – this Paris team actually includes five returning Olympians from that squad – and secured its first Olympic medal since 2012.

Aitana Bonmatí Helps Lead Spain to Women’s Soccer Semifinals at 2024 Paris Games

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2024 Paris GamesAitana Bonmatí has helped reigning world champions Spain advance at the 2024 Paris Games.

The 26-year-old Spanish professional footballer and Ballon d’Or winner scored the decisive spot kick in a penalty shootout against Colombia to advance to the women’s Olympic soccer semifinals.

Spain Women's Olympic Soccer TeamSpain had to fight back from 2-0 down on Saturday to get to the penalty shootout.

Spain won 4-2 in the shootout at Stade de Lyon.

Catalina Usme and Liana Salazar failed to score from the spot for Colombia, which had looked set to advance to the last four after taking a 2-0 lead through Mayra Ramírez and Leicy Santos.

Jenni Hermoso had sparked Spain’s second-half fightback and Irene Paredes forced the game to extra time with an equalizer in the seventh minute minute stoppage time.

Diego Botin le Chever & Florian Trittel Paul Master Men’s Skiff to Claim Gold at 2024 Paris Games

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2024 Paris GamesDiego Botin le Chever and Florian Trittel Paul have fulfilled a lifelong dream…

The 30-year-old Spanish sailor and his 30-year-old compatriot mastered the Men’s Skiff event at the 2024 Paris Games on Friday to become Olympic champions and give Spain the country’s first gold of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Diego Botin le Chever & Florian Trittel PaulThe Spanish pair sailed impressively throughout the regatta, finishing top of the Opening Series by a narrow five-point margin.

Botin and Trittel hadn’t won an individual race heading into the decisive Medal Race, but they saved their best for last, dominating the fleet in an exceptional show on the water to cross the line first and claim the gold medal.

Diego Botin le Chever & Florian Trittel PaulNew Zealand’s Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie wrapped up the silver medal with an important third place finish in the Medal Race, which saw them overtake Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove.

The Irish crew began the day in second, but dropped to fourth overall after an early crossing of the start line meant they had to restart the Medal Race.

USA’s Ian Barrows and Hans Henken benefitted from the shift in positions, managing to secure bronze after a brilliant fourth in the final sail.

“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,” said Botin.

Trittel added: “Staying focused has been one of the key factors for these two days of trying to get the Medal Race in.

“We knew what we wanted, which was to do the best Medal Race we could, to win that gold medal. That made us stay very focused, we had a clear game plan and I think we managed to execute it almost perfectly.”

Pau Echaniz Earns Men’s Single Kayak Slalom Event Bronze in Olympic Debut

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2024 Paris GamesPau Echaniz is on cloud…

In his Olympic debut, the 23-year-old Spanish slalom canoeist crossed the finish line with an 88.87 in the men’s single kayak slalom event at the 2024 Paris Games to claim the bronze medal.

Pau Echaniz“I am very tired, I am exhausted, but that’s the price of winning a medal and I would pay it a thousand times over. I am very happy,” Echaniz said following his medal-winning performance.

Echaniz came in behind Italy’s Giovanni De Gennaro, who pulled out a sensational run in a time of 88.22 to win gold; France’s Titouan Castryck finished two-tenths of a second behind to take silver in his first Olympics,

Pau Echaniz Echaniz looked good as he opened proceedings, setting a time of 88.87 seconds that forced the rest of the field to dig deep, and despite a slew of Olympic medal winners coming in his wake, only two men proved able to beat his time.

“I knew I could be in the fight,” said Echaniz. “I was prepared, calm and knew what to do at every moment, with all my energy focused on achieving this goal.

Hailing from San Sebastian, the Spaniard won the gold in the Slalom K-1 team event at the 2023 European Games.

Maria Perez Claims Silver in the Women’s 20KM Walk at 2024 Paris Games

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Maria Perez has earned her first-ever Olympic hardware.

The 28-year-old Spanish race walker improved on her 2020 Tokyo Games performance to claim a silver in the women’s 20KM walk at the 2024 Paris Games.

Maria Perez, Perez, the 2023 world champion in the event, finished the race on Thursday with a time of 1:26:19, behind only China’s Yang Jiayu, who finished the race slightly ahead of Perez at 1:25:54.

Australia’s Jemima Montag earned the bronze with a time of 1:26:25.

Maria Perez,Perez previously placed fourth in the women’s 20KM walk at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

In addition to her world championship in the women’s 20KM walk last year, Perez also won the title in the women’s 35KM race walk at the same event.

Alvaro Martin Claims Bronze in Men’s 20KM Walk at 2024 Paris Games

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2024 Paris GamesAlvaro Martin is celebrating a medal-earning performance…

The 30-year-old Spanish race walker has claimed his first Olympic medal, taking home the bronze in the Men’s 20KM Walk at the 2024 Paris Games on Thursday.

Alvaro MartinMartin just barely missed the podium in the same event at the 2020 Tokyo Games, coming in a heartbreaking fourth place.

Martin finished the race with a time of 1:19:11. Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado claimed the gold with a time of 1:18;55, followed by Caio Bonfim with a time of 1:19:09.

At the 2016 Rio Games, Martin finished the race in the same event in 22nd place.

Caio Bonfim Claims Silver in Men’s 20KM Walk at 2024 Paris Games

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2024 Paris Games

Caio Bonfim has proven his medal….

The 33-year-old Brazilian race walker finished second in the Men’s 20KM Walk at the 2024 Paris Games on Thursday to claim the silver, his first-ever Olympic medal.

Caio BonfimIt’s the first-ever Olympic medal is the event for Brazil.

Bonfim finished the race with a time of 1:19:09, .54 seconds behind Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado. Spain’s Alvaro Martin followed closely behind at 1:19:11 to take bronze.

Caio BonfimBonfim improved on his performance at the 2023 World Championships, where he won bronze.