Lionel Morales is facing the last weeks before competing in the Paralympic Games in Paris, thus finishing a long road of work and joys that he hopes to see culminate with some metal hanging from his neck on the first day of September.
Having passed the Parisian games on the agenda, the Lanzarote triathlete sees his debut in the waters of the renowned Seine closer than ever.
Lionel Morales made his Olympic debut at the Rio Paralympic Games, where Paralympic triathlon debuted as a discipline and the Lanzarote native arrived through sports merits. As soon as the Brazilian event ended, he began to think about the Tokyo games but, unfortunately, the offices decided that there would be no room for his category. Now it's the turn of the Parisian Olympic event and the Lanzarote triathlete will be on the starting line.
Morales looks back on these last years of preparation and is clear that "it has been hard, very hard. I broke my femur after the Rio games, I broke my adductor, injuries in the twins, I have had many problems to reconcile training and work, so after the event in Brazil, I asked for a reduction in working hours that they deduct from my salary to be able to combine triathlon with my work. I live in Lanzarote, everyone comes here to train for issues such as climate, our roads, etc... on that side I am privileged because I leave work and go to train. I have also had very beautiful moments with triathlon, I have improved with age, I have been seventeen times champion of Spain in duathlon and triathlon, I was world champion of duathlon, several times runner-up in Europe and runner-up in the world in triathlon 2021 and 2022. It has been quite hard, nobody has given me anything but I am quite happy with what I have achieved during all these years. We have worked hard to represent Lanzarote, the Canary Islands and Spain in Paris."
The trip to the city of the Eiffel Tower, continues the Lanzarote triathlete, "is already established, we will spend the night at the High Performance Center (CAR) in Madrid to leave for Paris on August twenty-fourth with the entire Spanish delegation that competes in the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 that open on the twenty-eighth. We will try to enjoy these days that we are there to the fullest and on September first, at a quarter past seven in the morning, Canary time, I will give everything to be as high as possible on the podium of the Olympic Games. I am very happy, I am the only Paralympic triathlete representing Spain for the second time in the games. There have been many falls and many times that I have gotten up, with the problem of prosthetics I am not happy, although we are going to make some changes to be a little faster in the transitions. It has been very hard, I have done everything in my power and I am happy, the time has come to enjoy it, to fill myself with sports, to soak up the games and the great sports festival that the Games are. I want to thank everyone who has supported me during all this time to get to this moment because I am fulfilling my dream of competing in an Olympics again. Now to give everything to try to return to the Canary Islands with joy", concludes the Lanzarote triathlete with Paris engraved in his mind until the first day of September.
