"If I had received these attacks on my body a few years ago, I would have sunk."

BarcelonaAfter fulfilling her dream and becoming an Olympic champion with the water polo team, Paula Leitón had to endure insults and criticism on her body. The Catalan woman confronted fatphobia with pedagogy. "It's something that hasn't just happened to me, but it happens to many girls, boys, teenagers and older people... Thanks to my family and my colleagues, I handled it well. They were by my side the whole time. I think the fact that this situation caught me at 24 years old, when I had already done a lot of personal psychological work, no. 2016, when I was still a girl who wasn't confident in my body, these words would have hurt me a lot.

"It's going to annoy us that people are Cregues with the right to give their opinion about the meu cos, because they don't know who the moment was or what happened in the chapter. But we're going to get caught in a moment of maduresa. I really value and value the meu cos. We all have the sort of being different and special and we have to value each other and value each other. "Nosaltres mateixos. The advice I give is that, continue as you continue, respect your mateixa," he says.

"The Olympic Games are the perfect stage to see the diversity of bodies. I decided not to hide, not for myself, but for the generations to come. Now I have a voice and I can help a lot of people. My case can help children who suffer the same things and need it, and I can speak naturally and find safety." From Egar, who plays for CN Sabadell while studying primary education.

Leitón began playing water polo when she was very young. Her career boasts both titles and records for precociousness, as she debuted as a professional player at just twelve years old and was capped internationally when she was barely fifteen. "I started very young and joined the Spanish national team in 2015. I don't have the triple crown, but I've experienced very different stages. When I look back, I see that we've left a huge mark, and I'm not just talking about water polo but also women's sports and the Olympics," she recalls.

Weeks before competing in the Paris Olympic Games, the Spanish national team players were gathered at the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Two moments served to define the group's character. The first, when they held a self-discovery session that helped them get to know each other much better. "We told each other the things we liked and the things we didn't," she confesses. The second moment was when they climbed Veleta together, the third-highest peak in the Iberian Peninsula. The route was complicated and some considered giving up, but Leitón convinced them to keep going. "It was a very tough time. I was having a really bad time and I was the first one who wanted to drop out because I knew we still had hours of climbing ahead, but the challenge of the Olympic Games is even tougher, and therefore, we had to be prepared to overcome adversity. We had to get through it, and we had to get through it together," she admits.

"I cried, of course I cried. I couldn't stand it anymore, but we helped each other. When one of us sat down, the rest encouraged her. We made it," recalls Leitón, an unconventional leader. She's not the one who talks the most, nor is she the one who makes the most headlines. "What I bring to the group is my positivity. I'm the teammate who always makes you smile, whether in a difficult moment or an everyday one. I always try to be in a good mood and contribute to a positive atmosphere. When you're happy, you compete better," she continues.

A unique documentary

Leitón met on Monday with her teammates from the Spanish national team to see Eternal, a Informe+ documentary recently released on Movistar. The only absence was Anni Espar, who is in Australia. "Watching the documentary made me travel to Paris again. Plus, almost all of us were able to get together. The documentary is incredible. I knew what I had said, but hearing my colleagues' opinions was very enriching. We shared many moments together, but each one felt it from me," says Leitón.

The documentary chronicles the journey of the Spanish women's water polo team, which reached the top of its game at the last Paris Olympic Games. "This group has become a benchmark in the water with everything they've achieved, but also outside of it for the values ​​they instill in the boys and girls who aspire to achieve their dream of winning an Olympic medal," he explains.