“Los grandes logros en el deporte no se improvisan; son el resultado de una prolongada y heroica conquista”, asegura Gerardo Castillo
"Great achievements in sports are not improvised; they are the result of a long and heroic conquest," says Gerardo Castillo.
The professor from the University of Navarra presented Así conquisté la gloria together with Nacho Monreal and Marta Mendía.
"The great achievements in sport are not improvised, but are the result of a prolonged and sometimes heroic conquest". So said today the professor of the University of Navarra Gerardo Castillo, during the presentation of his latest book, Así conquisté la gloria.
He was joined by Nacho Monreal, player of Club Atlético Osasuna and the Spanish national team, and Marta Mendía, international high jump athlete and Gold Medal of the Government of Navarra for Sports Merit.
"The internship sports is an excellent way to develop values during the youth stage," added the author. In this sense, he gave some examples such as "the effort, the demand staff, sacrifice, self-discipline, the desire to excel, perseverance, commitment, decision making and solidarity".
The book delves into the experience of human values lived in their youth by 22 high-level athletes. "It gathers stories of overcoming staff, in which the protagonists were able to overcome serious illness, accidents and frequent injuries, which kept them away for months or years from the sports internship ," he explained. According to her words, the book does not intend "that all young people become elite athletes", but "that they cultivate the values linked to sport, regardless of the capacity of each one to obtain results".
The support of the family in the face of adversity
The athlete Marta Mendía pointed out that "this book is a breath of fresh air in these days in which we only talk about the bad practice of sport". "We are unaware of many facets of the life staff of athletes, such as, for example, all the people who have supported them," she said. In this sense, he emphasized the role of the family in the elite athletes who star in the book and affirmed that the values highlighted by the author "can be applied to daily life; to all young people".
For his part, Nacho Monreal explained that "when you get to the top, it seems that everything is done, but it is not. The path requires fighting and sacrificing many things. In my case, when I got to Osasuna's first team, I started to experience things that had never happened to me before, such as being on substitute membe or suffering injuries. For a while I was lost, but my family supported me and encouraged me to keep fighting. They told me that with effort and dedication I could overcome everything, and that's what happened.
Regarding the doping cases, Marta Mendía declared that "it has been a very important blow for the whole sport. I hope that in the long run it will allow people to compete on equal terms". Likewise, the Osasuna player added that this "detracts from the value of competition. It is globalized and everyone doubts everything, but there are many honest people who get things based on work".
Nadal, Gasol, Induráin, Messi?
The protagonists of the work, published by EIUNSA (Ediciones Internacionales Universitarias), are Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Pau Gasol, Seve Ballesteros, José María Olazábal, Nadia Comaneci, Nastia Liukin, Miguel Induráin, Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Óscar Freire, Gisela Pulido, Raúl González, Iker Casillas, Leo Messi, Fernando Alonso, Michael Phelps, Mireia Belmonte, Valentino Rossi, Laia Sanz and Jorge Lorenzo. Both sports journalist Jesús Álvarez and international soccer referee Alberto Undiano sign the introductions.
Professor Gerardo Castillo specializes in the psychology and values of youth. He is the author of El adolescente y sus retos: la aventura de hacerse mayor, Claves para entender a mi hijo adolescente and Anatomy de una historia de amor: amor soñado y amor vivido, among others.