MADRID, 3 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno, runner-up in Europe in beach volleyball, affirmed that the medal has allowed them to give “that ‘click'” and showed them that they have “the level to fight against the best in the world”, immersed in a ” long process” with the 2024 Paris Games on the horizon, aware that they are “in the fight” to participate, so they are going to “squeeze every opportunity”
“There are about 15-20 tournaments left, so everything can change. If we continue doing it like this summer, it could turn out well, but there is still a long way to go, we have to keep up or even raise our level, because every time the people will be more competitive. If we are inside in June, it is that we will have done things quite well”, Álvarez valued in an interview for Europa Press.
In this process from February to June next year, the 17 best couples with the 12 best results will qualify for the desired Games. Although it is a great challenge for the promising Spanish couple, both arrive with the confidence that comes from the silver medal won in the European Championship held in Vienna, when they fell in the final (21-12, 21-13) to the Swiss Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner.
A silver that showed them that they have “the level to fight against the best in the world.” “It has given us more desire to get to the tournaments and know that if we are constant, we can be there,” said Moreno, who predicts a “long process” until Paris 2024. “This year we have realized that we can be there for matches or battles that in the end we have ended up taking. We don’t know if we are going to be in it, but we do know that we are in the fight and that every opportunity we get we are going to have to make the most of it,” said Moreno.
The Madrid and Asturian were one step away from gold but achieved a silver progression, after being European Under-22 champions and fourth in the absolute last year. “It’s not every day you get on a European podium and you have to remember that and above all that it helps us for what’s coming now. We’ve played very well, we’ve maintained a constant level, giving that ‘click’ that has allowed us to give one more step,” they acknowledged.
Álvarez and Moreno regretted that things did not work out in “the most important game at the moment” of their careers, although they see it as an impulse to gain “more strength” for the promising future.
“We are very focused on enjoying the tour, throughout this year we are enjoying all the little things. But going to a European Championship and playing in the final is something that shows that all the effort, time and effort we are putting in is working. And on top of that if we’re enjoying it, it’s because we’re doing things right,” said the Madrid native.
Thus, the Spanish see this silver as “part of the process”, after achieving gold in the European Under-22 and the continental semifinals in 2022. “It helps and they set the bar high for you”, they acknowledged, although insisting that “it does not it happens every day and it’s something you have to create and work on every day”. “But we don’t have to stay there, it has to help us with what comes next and that’s how it is,” she reaffirmed.
But to achieve these ambitious results, not only physical and mental effort is necessary, but also the harmony and chemistry of the couple. In her case, she “was there from the get-go.” “When our coach of the lower category teams brought us together for tournaments in Europe or the world under-21 or under-19, I think he already noticed it, it came up alone, without forcing it,” Moreno said.
Although their continental success is a historic milestone for Spanish beach volleyball – a medal that Spain had not achieved since 2013, at the hands of Liliana Fernández and Elsa Vaquerizo – Álvarez and Moreno prefer not to focus on what other athletes have achieved before that they “Lili and Elsa are figures in Spanish beach volleyball and have done a lot for this sport, but our goal is to do our thing, enjoy the journey and win as much as possible,” they stated, ambitious.
Thus, they highlighted the development of beach volleyball in Spain, emphasizing the International Beach Volleyball Center in Lorca (Murcia). “It is already a reflection of what the Federation invests. In addition to creating a National League or expanding the circuit with different levels, these are steps that encourage both young people, women and adults. We know that the medal can be perfectly used to encourage everyone who is interested,” they said.
The talented Spanish athletes divide their season between the United States, where they study and play in the university league, and Lorca. “There we train in the morning and in the afternoon, if we don’t have a gym that day we do double the sand. And if we have a gym that day, we do sand in the morning and gymnastics in the afternoon,” they explained.
“The resources we have in the United States are very good, we have everything you need: physio, nutritionist, cryotherapy, chiropractors. It’s a different environment, a culture, a way of thinking, to have the student athlete, because this is sport university, they pamper us, between quotes”, they settled.
