Three names, three stories. Jaume Pueyo (Badalona, ​​2001), Bernat Sellés (Lles de Cerdanya, 2003), and Marc Colell (La Seu d'Urgell, 2005) are the Catalan representatives in cross-country skiing at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games. Never before have three Catalans qualified in a discipline with a long tradition in our country, but where they have always lagged behind the French, Scandinavians, or Germans. This trio of skiers knows they face an uphill battle to win that coveted medal or diploma that would recognize them as the best cross-country skiers in the world, but they start with a powerful enthusiasm that makes this prize seem closer than they thought. "When I think about the Games, a great ambition comes to mind. It's a dream, a very special adventure that every athlete dreams of, and I'll go there with great ambition. My challenge is to reach the sprint final, and I believe I can achieve it. I want to be at the Games." top 8 "And get a diploma," says Jaume, born in Badalona but raised in the Pyrenees; of all of them, he has the most experience.

The Generalitat, the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) and even the Spanish government (although never in public) blame the president of Aragón, Javier Lambán, for the failure of the bid tho host the 2030 Winter Olympics. But Lambán is not willing to let criticism go unanswered and has tried to impose his own narrative, which clashes with the one defended by all other players involved in the negotiation. "For defending the interest of Aragon, I am receiving an avalanche of insults and disqualifications from the president of the COE and the independence movement," he tweeted this Wednesday morning, the day after COE president Alejandro Blanco put an end to the joint candidacy. Lambán then went on to put out a completely different version of events to everybody else's: "The truth is that the government of Aragon is the only one that sought an agreement until the last moment and will continue to do so for 2034".

The Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) has met this Tuesday to formally announce the withdrawal of the Catalan-Aragonese bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics. "The joint candidacy between Aragon and Catalonia does not exist, and cannot be materialised," said COE president Alejandro Blanco. Blanco blamed Aragonese president Javier Lambán for the failure and has opened the door to a solo Catalan candidacy for 2034.

Catalonia and Aragon's joint candidacy to host the 2030 Winter Olympic Games has been definitively discarded. The Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) plans to make an official announcement in the coming hours, after officially informing political authorities. As ARA reported a week ago, the project was on the ropes and, at least for now, an exclusively Catalan candidacy would not be accepted. The COE, however, clearly blames Aragonese president Javier Lambán for the candidacy's failure and accuses him of having boycotted the candidacy out of "anti-Catalanism" and "electoral interests". Even so, the COE remains hopeful that the work done so far will be useful to present another candidacy for 2034 which, this time around, will be a winner.

It only remains to be officially announced, but everyone is clear that the Catalan-Aragonese candidacy for the Winter Olympics will not come to fruition due to the lack of understanding between governments. Faced with this scenario, the Catalan government has announced this Thursday that it is preparing an exclusively Catalan candidacy to opt for the sporting event. However, it does not seem a very viable option because the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) always has the last word on the way the project would be set up and, so far, has always been reluctant to allowing a Catalan only bid to host the Winter Olympics.

A bid for the 2030 or 2034 Winter Olympics? Until now, all the parties, especially the Generalitat, the Aragonese government and the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), were working with the goal of hosting the 2030 Winter Olympics, but Aragon's reluctance – which has already led the Catalan government to postpone the consultation on the bid – has caused delays, to the point that this Friday the COE has opened the door for the first time to presenting a candidacy for the 2034 Winter Olympics instead. COE president Alejandro Blanco also warned that if a "presentable" project is not achieved before April or May 2023, when the call ends, the candidacy will have to wait until the next Olympics. The Catalan Government's response has been immediate and Presidency councillor Laura Vilagrà has affirmed that they do not consider "any other scenario" than 2030: "We can make it", she said. All this happened two days after the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, visited Madrid

Queralt Castellet has made history at the Beijing Winter Games: she has won the silver medal, the first podium for a Catalan athlete in the history of the Winter Games. Castellet came second in snowboard's halfpipe event this Thursday in Zhangjiakou.