Pierre de Coubertin´s bust at the Olympic Museum of Puerto Rico.

Last 22nd of May I had the opportunity to visit the Albergue Olímpico of Puerto Rico, built to offer the Puerto Rican athlete better conditions for its sports training. The Albergue Olimpico is the most complete center in the island not only for high performance athletes, but also for the general public to celebrate recreational, sports, educational and health activities. The Albergue Olimpico is a center whose great territorial expansion permits to group 17 sports facilities, among which are found: multiple use courts, a baseball complex, an aquatic center, tennis courts and athletics track, besides gymnasiums and different sports rooms. The facilities constitute the main training complex for the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee (COPUR) sports federations, students of the School Specialized in Sports, professional athletes, local sports associations and international sports associations, among others.

But the reason why I am talking about the Albergue Olímpico is my visit to the Olympic Museum of Puerto Rico. In the square giving access to the museum there is a bust of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, and on its pedestal one can read the following quote by the Baron, from Rome, 1923:

“Know yourself, dominate yourself, better yourself, eternal beauty of sports, fundamental aspirations of the authentic sportsman and premise of its success”.

Only four hours before I read this quote, Eneko Llanos had won Ironman Lanzarote, in a race that made him suffer a lot. I spoke with Eneko a few minutes after finishing the race, and his description of the race attained all of its meaning in the light of the words of Baron Pierre de Coubertin. I will let you assess this idea by yourselves, through the text entitled “Anything is possible”, taken from Eneko’s website:

"90 kilometers into the bike, riding in fourth place, loosing time, my mind filled with negative thoughts: I am not doing well, I'll miss the slot to Hawaii, why I wrote in my website that today would be a great day... Shut up! I scream, stop the chain of negativity, take a deep breath, focus on my rhythm, my heartrate tells me I'm riding at a good pace ... I have to do my race, the Ironman has only just begun, lot of work remains ahead..." (Read more)