From a privileged position, Elise Marc and Evgeniya Koroleva witnessed the birth of a new star of the Spanish paratriathlon in the World Cups held in early November in Abu Dhabi. They both contemplated at the top of the podium Andrea Miguélez Ranz (Valdemoro, 18 years old), paratriathlete from Madrid who in Emirati lands culminated his brilliant rise by hanging the gold in the PTS3 category (the same one in which Dani Molina, another from Madrid, added his fourth title).
“By ranking I was inside, but the Federation is the one that decides who goes. I didn’t even expect to go to the World Cup after the European Championship. I was very nervous”, Andrea recognized AS. Some nerves that he had to face even before the test, since due to a bureaucratic error he could not present the mandatory mobile application on the day of the competition to prove that it was negative in COVID-19. The previous acclimatization was not easy either, as the Madrilenian recalls: “Due to the high heat and humidity, some training was a disaster.” A series of obstacles that, as he has done throughout his life, Miguélez was overcoming to add more value to his feat, spiced up by the imposing Yas Marina circuit, where for years each Formula 1 season has concluded. Pure glamor.
“I’m not as good on my bike now as before, but I have done cyclocross and thanks to that transitions are very good for me. There I get a time that later they have to recover, which is a wear and tear for my rivals. In the running part, my head already hurt from the heat, but it is a discipline that I have improved a lot, because before it was not my strong point, “explains the Valdemoro paratriathlete regarding the keys to his victory.
His meteoric 2021 concludes with the success of a World Cup to which must be added the championship of Spain conquered last April, the one of Europe and a test of the World Cup. All this, in his first year in the elite! “A year ago, my coaches didn’t even know who I was. They didn’t know me. I did not count on everything I have achieved, “confesses Andrea. There is still a world, but all roads lead to the same point, the last challenge, the 2024 Paralympic Games: “To be able to go would already be a dream, although they will join my category with another because we are very few girls. Now it’s time to enjoy the road. “It will be worth the walk.