The year 2021 was a great number of successes for Spanish sport, beyond the Olympic Games and without counting cycling and tennis in this section. Handball and boxing stood out with their own light: the first sport, with a World Cup bronze and Barça champion of the Champions League, and the second with victories for the memory of Sandor, Kerman and, especially, Kiko Martínez. Jon Rahm conquered his first major at the US Open, in addition to finishing the best campaign of his career at the top of the world rankings. Carolina Marín, Adriana Cerezo, Sandra Sánchez … We review the illustrious list of names that gave great joy to Spanish sport in these twelve months.
1 – Bronze of Hispanics in the World Cup (January 31)
Spain said goodbye to the World Cup in Egypt through the front door, clearly hanging the bronze medal against France by a resounding 35-29. Beautiful farewell to the World Cup of players such as Raúl Entrerríos, Viran Morros, Gideón Guardiola or Dani Sarmiento, a brilliant history of national handball. Las Guerreras, in the Women’s World Cup organized for the first time in Spain, finished fourth.
2 – Spindles, European Gold Indoor Track (March 6)
Óscar Husillos was proclaimed champion of Europe. The 28-year-old from Palencia won the 400-meter final of the Indoor European Championship in Torun (Poland) with a mark of 46.22. He flew over the Polish tartan to beat the Dutch pair formed by Van Diepen (46.25) and Bonevacia (46.30), who occupied the second and third box of the podium respectively.
3 – Historic triumph of Spanish rugby (March 9)
The men’s seven team wrote one of the most brilliant pages in the history of Spanish rugby when they beat New Zealand for the first time (24-26). This victory against the All Blacks certifies the great moment that Pablo Feijoo’s men are going through, who do not stop growing with the passage of time, and are capable of winning anyone and imposing their game against the best teams in the world.
4 – Silvia Mas and Patricia Cantero have been proclaimed world champions of the 470 Olympic class (March 13)
Silvia Mas and Patricia Cantero were 470 World Champions. They managed to overcome a heart attack finish in the Medal Race in Vilamoura (Portugal) and Mas y Cantero, once they crossed the finish line, were clear that the gold was theirs in a gripping denouement. Jordi Xammar and Nicolás Rodríguez took the bronze medal in men.
5 – Adriana Cerezo, European champion 49 kg (April 8)
Adriana Cerezo, at the age of 17, achieved the gold medal for the Spanish team in the European taekwondo that took place in Sofia (Bulgaria) by beating Romanian Liana Musteata 6-4 in the final of the category up to 49 kilos.
6 – Fran Garrigós, European champion of judo 60 kg (April 16)
Francisco Garrigós (-60kg) gave an exhibition and took the gold medal at the European Championship in Lisbon (Portugal) by defeating Frenchman Luka Mkheidze in the gold technique in the final. The man from Mostole, who was 26 years old (he is now 27), arrived between cotton wool, having just overcome an injury.
7 – Carolina Marín conquers the European Championship (May 2)
Carolina Marín lengthened her dominance in the European badminton by winning her fifth consecutive continental gold in Kiev. The Huelva woman once again showed her power to beat the Danish Line Christophersen (21-13 and 21-18). Marín, from the top of the podium, managed to defend her status as champion achieved in her native Huelva in 2018, although she could not play the World Cup this year at her ‘home’ due to injury.
8 – Miren Lazkano is proclaimed European champion in C1 slalom (9 May)
The Spanish Miren Lazkano was crowned European champion in the C1 final of the European Slalom Canoeing Championships held in Ivrea (Italy). Lazkano qualified with the fourth best mark in the semifinals and clinched the title.
9 – Lucas Eguibar, snow world champion (May 11)
In the idyllic Mountains of Idre, on the Swedish border with Norway, Lucas Eguibar wrote a new line in the Spanish winter sports book. East, with gold letters. The rider from San Sebastian won the Snowboard Cross World Championships, once again confirming that he is a safe value in this discipline and improving his previous ceiling, the individual and team silver that was hung in Sierra Nevada four years ago. He will be at the Winter Games in a few weeks.
10 – Hugo González, gold and silver in the European long pool (May 20)
The European Championship in Budapest marked a before and after in the life of Hugo González de Oliveira. The 22-year-old swimmer from Mallorca, who trains in California, the Spanish junior with the most honors in history, emerged as one of the European swimmers of the moment and with more future. To the bronze achieved in the 50s backs first, he added a gold and a silver in the 200 styles and the 100 backs.
11 – Sandra Sánchez, European and also World Cup (May 22)
Sandra Sánchez managed to have the Spanish anthem sounded in Dubai with a gold medal around her neck. She successfully defended her World title won in Madrid in 2018 in a magical year: she has won all the tournaments she has played in 2021, and brings together the five titles that she wanted to round off: European, National, Olympic Games, Premier and, to close, he also won the World Cup.
12 – Niko Shera, 91kg Judo World Champion (June 10)
Niko Sherazadishvili made history … and also 28 days after having coronavirus. Less than a month before the appointment he received the untimely visit of the COVID-19, and even so he was proclaimed world champion in -90 kg in Budapest. The first Spaniard, man or woman, to achieve two golds in World Cups, because it was already in 2018 in Baku.
13 – Barça, champion of the handball Champions League (June 13)
Barça won their tenth Champions League in the Final Four in Cologne after clearly beating Aalborg (36-23) in Denmark. A perfect season for the Barça team in European competition, with twenty victories in as many games, and breaking a bad streak: since 2015 they had caressed the title on several occasions, but this time they did not escape.
14 – Jon Rahm, US Open winner (June 20)
Rahm became the first Spaniard to win the US Open, ultimately landing the jackpot of a career that was set to be glorious. His victory also returned him to the top of the world rankings, a position in which he remains to close the year and in which he will begin in 2022.
15 – Boxing: victory for Sandor (October 16), Kiko Martínez (November 14) and Kerman (December 3)
Kiko Martínez was proclaimed world featherweight champion after knocking out British Kid Galahad in Sheffield (England). ‘The Sensation’ silenced the Sheffield Arena and lifted Spain along with a KO to remember. “Surprise for everyone except me,” he said after the contest. In the United States, Sandor Martín starred in one of the biggest surprises of the year when he obtained a victory by majority decision over the American Mikey García, former four-division champion. For his part, Kerman Lejarraga was proclaimed European super welterweight champion in Barcelona after beating Frenchman Dylan Charrat by unanimous decision.
16 – Spain, European roller hockey champion (20 November)
The men’s team revalidated its continental roller hockey title by beating France, in extra time (2-1), the European final in Portugal and added its 18th continental conquest. A long-suffering victory against a team that was the great revelation of the tournament.
17- Ben Daoud, best Spanish record in a marathon (December 5)
Hamid Ben Daoud equaled the Spanish marathon record with a time of 2 hours 06 minutes and 35 seconds achieved in Valencia. This record is identical to that of the national record set in 2020 by Ayad Lamdassem in this same race, officially called Valencia Trinidad Alfonso EDP.
18 – Salarich breaks Spanish 30-year records (December 12)
Quim Salarich has started the Olympic season in the best possible way. In just 10 days, the Spanish alpine skier added two 15th places in the Slalom World Cup. According to the Spanish Winter Sports Federation, these are the best results of a Spanish alpine skier in the last 30 years in a World Cup slalom event. He aspires to be in the Beijing 2022 Games.