- The Paralympic athletes were honored in a moving ceremony at the Envera Sports Center in Colmenar Viejo (Madrid).
- Recognition was also given to the figure of the volunteer for his special support to people with disabilities during the pandemic and in the field of sports.
Madrid | October 1, 2021
Envera and Iberia have received this Friday representatives of the Spanish Paralympic Team to honor the athletes who have participated in the Tokyo Games in an event held at the Sports Pavilion of the Envera Integral Disability Center in Colmenar Viejo (Madrid).
With this tribute, Envera has also commemorated its 30th Anniversary of Inclusive Sport, with former national team coach Vicente del Bosque as ambassador.
More than 450 people formed an aisle of respect through which Paralympians Sara Revuelta, Alba García, Eduardo Uceda and Jorge Gutiérrez, together with the executive director of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, Alberto Jofre, and a representation of athletes from the Ícaro-Envera club, led by the original torch of the Barcelona 92 Games, paraded amidst the emotional applause of the attendees.
After placing the Olympic fire in the cauldron on the stage, Envera's CEO, Enrique Grande, welcomed the Paralympic delegation "applauding your feats, which are our inspiration. The most important of all: determination and courage in the face of the challenge of living doing what you love".
The co-captain of the Spanish wheelchair basketball team, Sara Revuelta, wanted to speak on behalf of her teammates, recalling that in Tokyo "we only felt like athletes and nothing more".
The event was also attended by Amadeo Meler, former sports director of Envera whose professional career of more than three decades dedicated to people with intellectual disabilities could play sports without barriers, have made him a benchmark in this field. Meler reviewed the history of inclusive sport that Envera has been championing for 30 years, recalling the exploits of many athletes who have managed to reach the top with the support of their coaches and families, people "who sometimes won and sometimes lost, but who faced the competition of their lives without limits".
In this celebration, Envera also wanted to recognize the spirit of solidarity of both private and corporate volunteers. In this way Vicente del Bosque, together with the Deputy Minister of Social Policy of the Community of Madrid, Luis Martínez-Sicluna, and the Mayor of Colmenar Viejo, Jorge García, have delivered their awards to individual volunteers and the companies Iberia and Coca-Cola European Partners who have supported and support people with intellectual disabilities, especially in the hardest part of the pandemic, and in the field of sports.
For his part, the director of the Spanish Paralympic Committee also wanted to "recognize Envera for its work to promote the sport of people with disabilities and thank the sponsors who accompany the Spanish athletes, as is the case of Iberia and all its workers who have gone out of their way to make our expedition to Tokyo as easy as possible".
Iberia, the company that Envera was founded almost 45 years ago and which was in charge of the Paralympic team's travel between Spain and the Japanese capital, was also the protagonist of this event. Its president, Javier Sánchez Prieto, assured that "Iberia maintains a great commitment to Spanish sport and that, together with Envera, we are already looking forward to our next event: the Paralympic Games in Paris".
The gala was closed with the words of the president of Envera, José Antonio Quintero, who encouraged the attendees to "continue to excel and fight for us all to be part of the sport with a capital letter, without segregation, so that Paralympic athletes are not a point and apart in an Olympic Games that add up, but not to all".
This special meeting was also attended by personalities from the world of business and public administration, such as the Chairman of Madrid Foro Empresarial, Hilario Alfaro, and representatives of organizations like ENAIRE, INECO, MAPOMA, Coca-Cola, Airbus, the Army's Logistics Grouping No. 11 and the Military Emergency Unit. And, of course, with the men and women with intellectual disabilities of Envera.
