Nil Llop, the Catalan who will be an Olympian in a sport without facilities in Spain

BarcelonaIn 2022, Queralt Castellet from Sabadell became the first Catalan to win a medal at the Winter Olympic Games In a sport, the halfpipewhich has no facilities in Catalonia. Now, skater Nil Llop (El Prat de Llobregat, 2000) will make his Olympic debut this February in a sport that also lacks facilities in our country: speed skating. In both cases, these are athletes who have left home for many months to pursue their dreams.

At 23 years old, the skater potablava He will be at the Milan and Cortina d'Ampezo Games in two different events, the 1,000 and 500 meters. Lobo recently became the first Spaniard to qualify for the Olympic Games in this spectacular sport, although a few days later, Daniel Milagros from Navarre also achieved the qualifying standard in the 1,000 meters. In a sport with fewer than 40 professional athletes in Spain, this is a remarkable achievement. This milestone began thanks to a project that Sandra Gómez, a roller skating coach, presented to the Spanish Ice Sports Federation when there was a possibility of hosting the Winter Games in the Pyrenees in 2030. The bid was ultimately unsuccessful due to political infighting, but the ice skating project continued under the name Llop. The Catalan athlete points out that "there's also a lot of talent in the junior category," achieving good times, which surprises the sport's dominant forces, such as the Dutch, Norwegians, Japanese, and Koreans, since "we don't have the tradition or the tracks. And they're surprised to see how we do it," he explains.

"The ice rinks we have here are very small" and unsuitable for training, Llop reasons after a press conference in Madrid to promote the sport. Speed skating tracks are very large, bigger than an athletics track. They are expensive to maintain, especially where the climate is unfavorable and there's no tradition, which is why they don't exist in Spain. The Spanish championships are held in Inzell, Germany, for example. At the Milan Games this February, for instance, the events have to be held in a temporary pavilion at the Milan Fairgrounds, which will be dismantled after the Games. "It doesn't seem likely that we'll be able to have a rink at home in the future. This means that for half the year we have to train and compete abroad," explains the skater from Baix Llobregat, who sees a positive side to his situation: skaters who always fly on ice can't always train year-round. He skates on rollers "six months and on ice the other half," which allows him to stay in shape. Llop typically trains twice a day, adding gym time to maintain his physique, especially his powerful lower body, which allows him to reach speeds of 60 km/h on the ice.

Lobo qualified thanks to his times, as he is not among the top 21 in the world rankings, which guarantees a direct spot. The International Federation also awards a place at the Games to those who, while not among the top 21, achieve a good time, as happened to Llop thanks to his best time of 1 minute, 8.7 seconds in the 1,000 meters and his 34.35 in the 500 meters at the event held in Calgary, Canada.

This success allows him to erase the wound of four years ago, when he missed the Beijing Winter Games because he touched one of the cones marking the perimeter in the key event. But he didn't give up. Just like on the ice, off the ice Nil lives life in the fast lane. At 16, he was already shining at the World Skating Championships, but in this case, on wheels. It was as soon as he started skating, after a childhood where, like so many children, he preferred chasing a ball. "As a child, I played football in El Prat and every day I would skip practice to watch my sisters skate. Finally, I told my father I wanted to try it. I was four years old when I first put on skates; I remember I couldn't even stand up!" he explains. And quickly, he began winning medals, first in local competitions and then internationally. At 15, he suffered a serious accident when he crashed into a tree, fracturing his femur, ankle, jaw, and a finger. But in less than 12 months, he was already winning medals at a Junior World Championship.

Now he's preparing for his trip to Italy, although first he has to compete this January in the European Championships in Poland. "Being at the Games is a lifelong dream. A life of sacrifices, with injuries, surgeries, leaving home... Finishing in the top 15 would be incredible, but we'd have to wait for some of the favorites to falter. I'm very competitive, and since we're here, I want to compete well. Knowing we're pioneers is truly exciting," he explains.