The Catalan 'minion' who has defied a Hollywood studio at the Olympic Games

BarcelonaThe life of Tomás-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté (Sabadell, 1999) changed when he was three years old. Watching television, he discovered figure skating on ice, seeing the Salt Lake City Games, with the brilliant performance of the Russian Aleksei Yagudin. "I told my mother I liked it, that's it," he recalls. Tomás didn't stop until he was taken to a rink in the city of Sabadell, where he began roller skating. And when he discovered that there were two ice rinks in Barcelona, ​​he asked to go and joined the now-defunct FC Barcelona skating section. Thus began a routine that combined figure skating on rollers with ice skating at the now-defunct Skating Club rink on Roger de Flor Street and the FC Barcelona ice rink, until at the age of 13, the young man from Sabadell decided he would go all out to become an Olympic ice skater. "It's more fun, faster, and flows better than on wheels," he says.

And a year ago, the dream came true at the World Championships in Boston, where he delivered his best performance and qualified for the Olympic Games. "Just being there is a success. Spain barely has any tracks; if you want to dedicate yourself to it, you have to make a huge effort. My dream was to be an Olympian. Now I know for sure that I can end my career the way it should be," says the still-young athlete, 26 years old. The road hasn't been easy to shine in a sport where "great concentration is necessary." "In three minutes, you have to perform a complete routine, without making a mistake, linking the jumps with the choreography, making everything flow, trying to captivate the audience and the judges," he explains. A sport that stirs passions in the United States, Japan, and, absent due to sanctions, Russia. With idols like one of the Games' biggest stars, the American prodigy Ilia Malinin, who dazzles everyone with his quadruple somersaults and backflips. Athletes who can compete in custom-made uniforms worth thousands of euros, with a large support structure and a coaching staff to assist them.

Tomàs, on the other hand, is fed up with overcoming obstacles. Starting with music, since he almost missed out on the exercise he had lovingly and painstakingly prepared, inspired by a popular animated film from Universal Studios: The MinionsIn the exercise, the skater from Vallès dressed up in a fun Minion costume, wearing blue overalls and a yellow t-shirt, while dancing to a medley of music from the Minions' various films. But just days before the Games, Universal Studios informed him that they wouldn't give him permission to use the music. Well, he could if he paid a fortune. "It was a tough blow," the skater admits.

In our country, figure skating is still a little-known sport, but internationally, Guarino received a lot of support, with thousands of fans from all over the world posting messages on social media asking Universal to change its mind using the hashtag #lettheminionskate —that is, "let the Minion be able to skate"—, and negotiations that achieved what seemed impossible. "We've done it: we've obtained the licenses for the four musical pieces, and I'll be able to skate my Minions program at the Winter Olympics," the Catalan skater said on social media a week before the Games. "It hasn't been an easy process, but the support of everyone who has followed my case has been essential to keeping me motivated and optimistic during these days." The news ended up in media outlets around the world, and the BBC reported that the key conversation was with representatives of Pharrell Williams, the singer of Happy –a song that appears in Group 2 and it is one of the Catalan's musical selections.

"Right now, my only goal is to give my best on the ice and deliver a program worthy of the affection I've received from people all over the world. I'm deeply moved by the love shown to a modest skater from a small federation," wrote the Catalan skater, explaining that he had followed all the necessary procedures for announcing his music. He had never had any problems before, and in fact, at the European Championships held in Sheffield this January, he was able to compete with this routine and became a fan favorite for its originality. In figure skating, you have to inform a platform about the selected music and which tournaments it will be used for, and pay a fee. But sometimes the major record labels or studios take time to respond, so it can happen that an athlete pays, competes, and still hasn't received a reply. That's what happened to the Catalan skater with the music ofThe MinionsIn the other of the two routines he performs, one short and one long, Guarino uses Bee Gees music.

Making his Olympic debut will justify all the sacrifices of a young man who, for a few years, chasing his dream, even represented Switzerland internationally. "When I was 10, I went to live with my mother near Paris so I could train with a coach there, Bernard Glesser. And when this coach moved to Neuchâtel, Switzerland, the whole group followed him, and they asked us at the junior level if we wanted to compete for Switzerland. Since competing in Spain was competing in Spain, well, I accepted. After the pandemic, I decided to compete again as a Spaniard when the competitive system was reorganized and became easier. Also, Javier had retired, and I saw that perhaps I could be an Olympian." The price to pay for the federation change was spending a whole year unable to compete in 2022.

Tomás-Llorenç has lived in France, Switzerland, and now Italy, always seeking to be close to the ice. He studied computer engineering remotely at the University of La Rioja and has spent hours studying on airplanes halfway around the world. He's been living in Turin for a few months now, so he was able to drive to Milan, a short journey, while mentally rehearsing all the jumps he'll have to make as the music plays.The MinionsAt 26, his story could be a movie. The story of the young skater who, with the support of the public, managed to change the mind of a major Hollywood studio. minion Catalan will be able to shine on the Milanese court.