The Finn Iivo Niskanen, already with the gold medal assured after his triumph this Friday in the 15 km of cross-country skiing, waited for the last classified, the Colombian
Carlos Quintana, to congratulate him at the finish line.
“I told him ‘very well’,” Niskanen explained at a press conference. “All athletes must respect each other, everyone has worked hard to be here”pointed out the new Olympic champion.
It may interest you: (Nairo Quintana and Arkea, officially, to the Tour de France 2022)
After starting third from last in this race against the clock, Quintana was overtaken by the two participants who started behind him and qualified from 95th and last, 17 minutes and 47 seconds behind the winner.
Although the Colombian would not be the last classified, since the Turkish Yusuf Emre Firat and the Nigerian Samuel Uduigowme Ikpefan left, in addition to two participants who did not start, the Czech Jan Pechousek and the Belarusian Aliaksandr Voranau.
Carlos Quintana, who turns 37 next week, started cross-country skiing less than four years ago, when he saw his compatriot Sebastián Uprimny participate in the Pyeongchang-2018 Games.
“You have to show this kind of respect at the Olympics towards countries that don’t have much budget to get the best results, unlike the best nations,” said the Finn.
consolation prize
The Colombian appreciated the detail. “Yes. It was a good moment there. And then the Norwegian also congratulated me (Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, third classified),” he explained.
Quintana to AFP.
“It’s a consolation prize because I didn’t feel comfortable at all. From the start I did not feel well physically. I don’t know what happened, but physically I didn’t find myself today,” the Colombian athlete summed up.
Quintana had competed in roller skating and triathlon before launching into this Winter Games Olympic adventure.
Although he had never made snow before, he called Uprimny and Uprimny encouraged him. And as if luck were to cross his path, an aunt of his lived in Seo de Urgell, a Catalan town very close to Andorra and the Pyrenees.
The first three years did not have aid, but the fourth, when the Colombian Olympic Committee supported him in his dream on trips to different parts of the world looking for points and the ticket to the Games.
“After the Games I want to make a children’s team, like a hotbed so that this sport does not remain here in Colombia,” Quintana explained to AFP before his participation in Beijing.
It may interest you: (Luis Díaz impresses a Liverpool reference: ‘We were drooling over him’)
AFP
#Carlos #Quintana #great #gesture #Olympic #champion