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The last medal for Spain in Rio was a matter of balls, although Carlos Coloma (Logroño, 1981) got it on two wheels, entering the finish line with his hands there. «Here are my balls! I knew it, I knew it! ” I shouted, remember with a half smile, both pride and blush. That bronze changed his life, because with him pedaled the three mortgages to pay. But the biker is pure self-confidence and optimism. And he is so convinced that in Tokyo he can do it again as if he is accompanied by one of the greatest pearls of Spanish sport.

For some time now, Rocío del Alba García (Villa del Prado, Madrid, 1997), has become his shadow. Its common history, of teacher and pupil, of legend and diamond, which awaits a climax in the circuit of Mount Izu on July 27 - this time the MTB does not close the Games - has an exciting start. They tell it, speaking as they pedal, in relief.

«The junior year, Rocío was champion of Spain in the three disciplines: cyclocross, mountain bike and road. But his move to a professional road team [Lointek] ... ended up quite disappointed, very tired, ”explains Coloma, who one day, shortly after the Olympic medal, was approached at a cycling fair. «He told me that he wanted to change to MTB, that if he could lend a hand. But a month passed when I couldn't call her again. Until he wrote me again and I happened to be in Madrid ... », he continues. "It was a bit like that," she recalls. «I was a little disappointed (she came to play the Giro), I wanted to go back to my beginnings, to the mountain bike. That day he came from Navacerrada to my house in Villa del Prado, which is more than an hour away. I didn't believe it when I saw him there, an Olympic medalist at home. I started to cry".

Rocío, who won his ticket to Tokyo with seventh place in the U23 World Cup (he was 14th in the Olympic test in October ), became part of Coloma's most personal project, his own team, the BH Tempo Cafes, based in Albelda de Iregua, its town. True to his tattoo - "he's still hungry, he's still crazy," a phrase by Steve Jobs - not for the Rioja, also with his first steps in the world of wine, how could it be otherwise. Aware that after 21 World Cups and what will be their fourth Games (it was also sixth in London), there is a world far beyond the competition, although Carlos and Lucas, their seven and nine year old children - «the little one is a little boy , they say he looks like me ... »- they also take care of him.

«If I have to choose, there is no doubt, I prefer to win the Rocío medal», Carlos sincere, for whom there are no impossible and the sample was that unexpected bronze ... for all but him. «To risk that day was the greatest success of my career» and that is why, although in Tokyo legends like Nino Schurter - «the Messi of the MTB» - or phenomena like Van der Poel take the pools, he warns: «One day he will not I'm afraid of anyone ».

Nor does he dismiss Rocío, despite his bisoñez. Because he saw something in her, although the first thing she sent was to gain weight ... "That was the first advice she gave me, that I had to gain strength and weight , that I was thin." “Physically it was and is very good, but the technique ... I have not seen anything like it, a runner so young with that ease, comparable to Jolanda Neff, to any of the world elite. In Spanish cycling, it had never been seen ”, emphasizes the teacher, without limits for the applied student. «Maybe he will arrive in Tokyo a little soon, it is normal that he is between six and 12. But with the type of circuit, with his progression, the pressure that I think will affect him positively ... The medal is difficult , but it falls within the possibilities, ”he says.

Why? "Why not?" He cuts. «He has the race to do something big . The Olympic champion in Rio was with 22 years. Rocío takes too fast steps. He has so much motivation and confidence ... that sometimes I fear that he can become frustrated, ”he concludes. Because with it there is not only a competitive tutelage. "It's very good and it's going to be something very big, but the personal thing is the really important thing, what sustains everything," he clarifies, emphasizing training, in everything that athletes build beyond training. «I always say that from this, now, you can live. It's not football or tennis, but she already charges more than enough to get her career on track. And if you do it right, when you retire within 15 or 20 years, you can have your life on track. But you have to work hard, be very aware of brands, social networks, the press ... ».

OLYMPIC TEST: Carlos Coloma answers

Your favorite memory of Olympic history? Indurain's gold in the Atlanta chrono and the iconic Bolt races. If he wins a medal, where would he go to celebrate it? La Rioja, with a good wine. On WhatsApp, do you write or send audios? Both. The audios facilitate when it comes to more serious matters.What athlete do you admire? Muhammad Ali.Your prohibited food? We both have a grateful genetics, we are not to take weight or fat. Out of season, we can eat everything. I am from La Rioja, the chops, the choricillo ... From February you try to take care of yourself a little more. Has it been linked by social networks? I try not to give foot. Not that I am a Latin lover, but I have a beautiful woman and two children.

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