Twelve medals were won by UCAM athletes in the world championships held last week, most of which, together with other finalist positions, have turned into places at the Olympic Games in Paris. In athletics, María Pérez (two gold medals) and Mohamed Katir (a silver medal) thrilled Spanish sport with their exhibitions; in badminton, Carolina Marín returned to her best competitive level, although she fell just short of her fourth world gold medal; and in canoeing, the great condition of the UCAM canoeists could be seen once more, with medals for Íñigo Peña (gold and bronze), Antía Jácome (three silver medals) and the teams of Teresa Portela, Sara Ouzande, Pablo Martínez, Cayetano García and Rodrigo Germade (bronze medals).

Several praiseworthy positions which turned into Olympic places must be added to these magnificent results. These places were secured by Saúl Craviotto, Marcus Cooper, Rodrigo Germade and Carlos Arévalo in the K4 500m category, and Polina Berezina in gymnastics. Several UCAM athletes had already secured their Olympic places: swimmer Hugo González, boxer Laura Fuertes, shooter Fátima Gálvez, archer Elia Canales and athletes Víctor Ruiz and Diego García Carrera.

Some of the Olympic passes will have to be confirmed by the federations when their teams are formed, as, for example, in athletics and canoeing. In other cases, like Carolina Marín, it will be necessary to wait for the closing date of the ranking for it to be officially announced. There are remarkable cases in these Olympics. One of them is Teresa Portela, who could go to her seventh Olympic Games, being the first Spanish woman to reach this number. José Antonio Carrillo is another one. He is the coach of UCAM Athleo Cieza and has been training race walkers for the national team since Atlanta 1996 (six Olympic Games), participating as a member of the RFEA technical staff in five of them.