Further Personal Information |
| Residence |
Madrid, ESP |
Sport Specific Information |
| Why this sport? |
"I got involved in the sport through my cousins, who were recruited by a weightlifting coach. My parents separated numerous times and I was having trouble at school. Weightlifting helped me disconnect from that. At the beginning I wasn't good at all, but the sport helped me deal with my family problems." |
General Interest |
| Hero / Idol |
Spanish kayaker Saul Craviotto, Spanish badminton player Carolina Marin, Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal. (halterofilia.net, 09 Feb 2020) |
Sport Specific Information |
| When and where did you begin this sport? |
He took up weightlifting at age 13. |
General Interest |
| Hobbies |
Playing video games, watching videos. (fedehalter.org Facebook page, 20 Mar 2019; fedehalter.org, 01 Aug 2018) |
| Memorable sporting achievement |
Competing at the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016, and winning silver in the 81kg snatch lift at the 2019 European Championships in Batumi, Georgia. (halterofilia.net, 09 Feb 2020; fedehalter.org Facebook page, 10 Apr 2019) |
Sport Specific Information |
| Name of coach |
Matias Fernandez [national], ESP |
Further Personal Information |
| Occupation |
Athlete |
General Interest |
| Other information |
COMBINING STUDIES AND SPORT
He has studied computer engineering at university. Despite finding it hard to combine sports and studies, he considers it essential for his success. "It is difficult to give 100% in both aspects, but I change the focus depending on how I feel, sometimes I concentrate more on the studies and sometimes I am more centred in sports. That balance helps me mentally to know that I can always give my best in some aspect of life." (fedehalter.org Facebook page, 20 Mar 2019)
FROM VENEZUELA TO SPAIN
He was born in Venezuela, but grew up in San Cristobal de La Laguna, Spain. (coe.es, 12 Apr 2013; laopinion.es, 31 Jul 2012) |
| Awards and honours |
He was named the 2014 Best Male Weightlifter by the Spanish Weightlifting Federation. (vlcnoticias.com, 06 Jun 2015) |
Further Personal Information |
| Languages |
Spanish |
General Interest |
| Injuries |
In September 2020 he had surgery on his left knee due to problems with his quadriceps tendon. It was the second surgery on the knee that year, after he underwent an operation in May due to calcification, which had impacted his performance in training. (Instagram profile, 18 Sep 2020; eldia.es, 31 May 2020)
In 2013 he underwent knee surgery. (eldia.es, 26 Jun 2016; vavel.com, 15 Jun 2016) |
| Ambitions |
To compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (elnacional.com, 07 Mar 2021) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto |
"This sport is very hard but it teaches you a lot of things about how to deal with life's problems. To improve, you need to be consistent and work at being self-critical in order to find your weaknesses. All of this is applicable to life." (halterofilia.net, 09 Feb 2020; sextoanillo.com, 28 Nov 2016) |
Sport Specific Information |
| Training Regime |
He trains six days a week, including double training sessions on three days. |
Tokyo
Rio de Janeiro
London
Bogotá
Tashkent
Pattaya
Ashgabat
Anaheim, CA
Almaty
Wroclaw
Paris
Tirana
Moscow
Batumi
Bucharest
Split
Førde
Antalya
Klaipeda
Limassol
Tallinn
Eilat