Spain is pursuing more glories at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after glamorous wins at Euro 2008 and the Wimbledon Open, which may enhance their world sporting status in a fruitful year.
The Iberians achieved huge success in a week's time from June 29 to July 6. "La Furia Roja" lifted all the curses and beat tough German mannschaft on June 29 to win the Henry Delaunay cup after a 44-year drought, then Rafael Nadal terminated Swiss tennis giant Roger Federer's five-year reign at the Wimbledon final.
And if the Spaniards could extend their performance in the Olympics, they may prove that Spain is en route to a world top sporting nation.
Spain pocketed 19 and 11 medals respectively in the 2004 Athens and 2000 Sydney Games, with three golds apiece. Compared with their 13-gold rush on home soil in 1992, the last two Olympics were far from satisfactory for the Spaniards.
"We will do our best to get more medals then the past two Games," said Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, "our strength in some events are underestimated."
"We won 22 medals in Barcelona, 17 in Atlanta, 11 in Sydney and 19 in Athens. Now we are traveling to Beijing expecting to get great results.
"We are taking a stronger team than the ones we took to Sydney or Athens. The fact that there are six reigning world champions in our squad means that we have got really strong medal options: better than ever," said Blanco.
Canoeing, sailing, gymnastics and athletics are Spain's traditionally strong sports, while cycling, tennis, men's basketball and volleyball are developing so fast to make surprises at the Beijing Olympics.
Blanco said of the Spanish strength that "synchronized swimming has come on a long way as has shooting and we do well in combat sports, the triathlon, gymnastics and canoeing, while the basketball team is world champion and we have a great chance in sailing. We have a whole range of sports with more quality than ever."
Veteran gymnast Gervasio Deferr, gold medalist in both the Athens and Sydney Games, will fight for his third title in a row in Beijing.
As for canoeing, David Cal is likely to show his power in the C1 1000m. In sailing, athletics and cycling, Spain also has enough quality to race for golds.
The Spanish men cagers beat Greece to win the World Championship in 2006. With NBA star Pau Gasol and mature tactics, they may compete for the Olympic gold against strong rivals such as the United States and defending champion Argentina. Although the Spanish Basketball Federation sacked coach Jose Hernandez two months before the Beijing Games, Spain remains to be a formidable side.
In tennis, Spain is convinced that Nadal could clinch the men's singles title after the young talent ousted Federer in Wimbledon. And it also has strong women players on the court, especially in the women's double.
The Spanish men's volleyball is the newly-crowned European champion, and will undoubtedly try to achieve something in the Olympics. Even in those small sports like handball and water polo, Spain has big chances to take medals.
However, against its glory of winning in Barcelona 1992 and Euro 2008, Spain failed to qualify for the Olympic soccer tournament as it didn't send ace players like Cesc Fabregas and David Silva to the European U21 Championship 2007. Otherwise, it could also be labelled as one of the favourites to win the men's soccer title.
According to local reports, Spain will send 292 athletes to take part in the Beijing Olympics, and the total Spanish delegation will be around 500.
(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2008)