Iberia and Envera receive in Colmenar Viejo the Spanish Paralympic team and committee upon their arrival from the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Madrid | September 21, 2016
They are already at home. The delegation of athletes who have represented Spain at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games landed this Wednesday at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid - Barajas airport and they did it with 31 medals under their arms. Upon arrival, 60 athletes, coaches and representatives of the Spanish Paralympic Team were welcomed by Envera - Iberia Employees Association Parents of People with Disabilities at its headquarters in Colmenar Viejo.
The event was preceded by the Envera 25 Years with Sports Tournament, in which athletes with disabilities from Envera and members of the Iberia Club participated. With this competition, organized by Envera's Sports Department, the association celebrated a quarter of a century dedicated to sports as a means of inclusion.
After the trophy presentation, the Paralympic retinue arrived at the Envera sports center, where they were received, with all the respect and honor they deserve, by about 400 people, including beneficiaries and professionals from Envera as well as members of the Colmenareña Municipal Corporation, with its Mayor at the head, and representatives of public and private entities, who welcomed the Paralympic athletes under the slogan #NosQuitamosElSombrero in an event conducted by Radio Terrícola.
For Envera it is "an honor and a privilege" to receive the athletes because, in the words of its General Manager, Pedro Sobrino, "we have filled this sports center with brave people, heroes who are not only the best athletes but also the best people". These words were echoed by Carolina Martinoli, Iberia's Customer Director.
The three-time Paralympic champion in shot put, David Casinos, congratulated the attendees for "the enthusiasm with which you have been doing all these activities for 25 years, so that in another 25 years we will be here again and we will be eager to continue sharing moments with such a beautiful nexus as adapted sports".
Another athlete who spoke was Mariuca García, former Paralympic swimmer from Envera and participant in Barcelona 92, who wanted to congratulate her colleagues "for being the image before the world of the capabilities of people with disabilities" and had a special memory "to so many exceptional athletes who have been left on the road to Rio and whose work every day -she assured- also enlightens us".
José Antonio Quintero, President of Envera, expressed to José Alberto Álvarez, Vice President of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, Envera's commitment to the challenge of the Paralympic Games being held simultaneously with the Olympic Games. "Thank you for showing that we all count and that we are all important, that we can all be the best at something," Quintero concluded.
