The Mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta; the UCAM President, María Dolores García Mascarell; and the Director of Sport of the COE (Spanish Olympic Committee), Ricardo Leiva, inaugurated the Olympic exhibition in Paseo Alfonso X El Sabio , which is part of the activities organised by UCAM, the City Council of Murcia and the Spanish Olympic Committee to promote sporting practice and values, as well as to showcase the participation of Murcia and the university in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Also present were four athletes who reflect the UCAM - COE project: the athlete-lecturers of the Faculty of Sports Antonio Peñalver, silver medalist in Barcelona 92 and Juanma Molina, Olympian in Athens and Beijing; the lecturer of the Degree in Psychology Lucila Pascua, silver medalist in Rio 16 in basketball; and the technician of the Sports Service David Cal, winner of five Olympic medals in canoeing. 

The exhibition displays a series of photographs that take a visual tour of the successes of the UCAM athletes, such as Mireia Belmonte, David Cal, Saúl Craviotto, Laura Gil, Carolina Marín, Sandra Sánchez, Alberto Fernández, Fátima Gálvez and Lydia Valentín, among others, at the London 2012 Olympic Games and, subsequently, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020, where they have achieved great successes for Spain. 

In addition, the Olympic weekend has been announced, which will take place on 31 May, 1 and 2 June in the Plaza Circular, where numerous activities have been prepared to promote sport and get engines going for Paris 24. On Friday 31 May, a reception will be held at the Murcia City Hall, which will be attended by the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco, together with a representation of UCAM Olympians.  

The Mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta, highlighted that ‘these could be the Olympic Games with the highest participation of athletes born in the city of Murcia in disciplines such as basketball, tennis, walking’ and added that ‘the Universidad Católica San Antonio, which currently has over 450 scholarship holders, is the university with most Olympic medals worldwide; and it is located in the city of Murcia’. 

María Dolores García, UCAM president, encouraged all citizens of Murcia to visit the exhibition ‘as it is a good example of the work that UCAM is doing together with the COE’. She also wanted to send a message to the media urging them to ‘in addition to counting the medals at the Games, please also reflect the values that these athletes transmit, such as discipline, sacrifice and teamwork’. Ricardo Leiva, Sports Director of the COE, praised ‘the work that UCAM does for our Olympians. I think this is something impressive that has positioned UCAM as the benchmark university in the world of sports’.  

Members of the Board of Trustees of the Fundación Universitaria San Antonio, the UCAM Governing Council, the Faculty of Sports and the UCAM Sports Service attended the inauguration. Along with the Mayor of Murcia, the event was also attended by the Councillor for Sports, Miguel Ángel Noguera; the Councillor for Urban Development and Smart City, José Guillén; the Councillor for Culture and Identity, Diego Avilés; and the Councillor for Youth Talent and Public Spaces, Sofía López-Briones.