Ander Elosegi has starred in an exciting farewell to elite sport this morning in the San Sebastián Aquarium auditorium. Gone are many years of glory and four participations in the Olympic Games. At 35 years old, he does not see himself with the strength, especially mentally, to continue facing challenges. But he confirmed that in some way he will continue to lend a hand in whatever is required to continue contributing his bit to canoeing. He has paraded through a rowing aisle made up of friends and family, and has tried to remain whole during his address. he leaves behind more than 20 years among the greats.
“I don’t know what my relationship with canoeing will be from now on, but I think I’ll continue. I’m not going to leave it”, confirmed. Elosegi, who has been accompanied by Gorka Iturriaga, director of Physical Activity and Sport of the Basque Government and Olatz Legarza, coordinator of the Basque Team, has stated that he is “prepared” to “help the projects that come”, since “canoeing It has been a very important part” of his life. Regarding his decision to withdraw, he has assured that this has come as a result of a “process” in which his mind has gradually convinced him. “There has not been a point where I have said that I have realized it here,” he explained.
However, it was after the Augsburg World Championship in 2022 that he began to realize that “this was over and another stage had to begin.” He has recognized that The preparation process for the Tokyo Olympics, including the stoppage due to the pandemic, “was not easy”, since it was difficult for him to “go to train”. “There you realize that the time is coming and that, although you still like canoeing, it costs you more,” he commented.
And as a result of everything he has experienced during this last stage, he has stated that he could not see himself preparing for the Olympic Games in Paris for another year, “the body, and especially the head, are telling you to stop.” Elosegi retires after having participated in the Olympic Games of Beijing 2008, Rio de Janeiro 2012, London 2016 and Tokyo 2020, in which he has achieved four diplomas in category C-1 after reaching the final in all editions. The fourth place achieved in his first two dates, very close to the medal, were his best results.
To these successes must be added the two silver medals achieved in 2019 at the World Cup held in La Seu D’Urgell in the C-1 individual and team category, and the team bronze medal won on the same stage ten years earlier. His last international success was achieved last year at the European Championship in Liptovsky Mikulas (Slovakia) by winning the team bronze in C-1, in addition to the individual bronze that he had achieved on the same stage in 2016..
“You keep the trajectory and the moments that you have lived with your teammates, the anecdotes that when they happen are nonsense, but it is what you remember. I am leaving happy for having been able to participate in four Games, becoming the first with five in Gipuzkoa is an anecdote”, alludes to the possibility of surpassing the field hockey player Maider Telleria, present in Barcelona 1992 (gold medal), Atlanta 1996 (eighth place), Sydney 2000 (fourth) and Athens 2004 (tenth). Likewise the paddler Maialen Chourraut He has been to four Olympic Games, obtaining three medals, gold in Rio de Janeiro 2016, silver in Tokyo 2020 and bronze in London 2012, as well as a sixteenth place in Beijing 2008.