Rubén Rézola and his dream gold in Santa Fe: “it’s glory to me” | OneFootball

The athlete from Santa Fe, who started canoeing at a very young age at Club El Quillá, won the gold medal in the K4 500 meters. After several postponements due to windy conditions, he celebrated in his city alongside family and friends.

Rubén Rézola had imagined many times what it would be like to compete in the South American Games in his city. This Thursday, that moment finally arrived. The Santa Fe native won the gold medal in the K4 500 meters together with Agustín Vernice, Vicente Vergauven, and Gonzalo Carreras, in an event held at the Costanera Este, with family and friends following the race from different points along the shore. “It was really beautiful to see so many familiar faces waiting and paying attention to a competition, in this case a team event,” Rézola said after the race.

The event was postponed several times before finally taking place, and the team had to go through hours of uncertainty before the start. “Even though the race was delayed, it was a beautiful gift and we had to top it off. The goal was to top it off with a gold medal,” he said.

The Argentine K4 had already been showing a strong international level and was able to confirm it in Santa Fe. Uruguay took the silver medal, and Chile completed the podium with bronze.

At Náutico El Quillá

For Rézola, the gold means far more than just the result. His connection to canoeing began when he was 10 years old, when his mother took him to Club Náutico El Quillá. “I’m always grateful to her. It wouldn’t have been possible without her, with the way she supported me, always however she could and with all the effort that meant so I could get to this day,” he recalled.

For years, the Santa Fe athlete trained and competed in different settings until becoming one of the leading figures in Argentine canoeing. He was also an Olympic finalist and built much of his career competing individually.

This time, the challenge was different. During the season, he focused exclusively on the K4 and found a different kind of experience in the boat.

“This year was purely and exclusively about representing Argentina in the K4. Before, I always competed alone; this has a different flavor,” he added.

The team’s strength

The postponements were also part of the story of the race. Agustín Vernice said they imagined the race several times before they were finally able to compete: “About five times, because it was postponed so many times. Coming here thinking you’re going to compete and then not competing is complicated,” he said. Once on the water, the team had to adapt to the conditions and stay focused to complete the 500 meters.

For Vicente Vergauven, the final also had a special feature: despite knowing they were favorites, none of them wanted to assume the outcome in advance. “Seeing yourselves as winners is quite a complex thing to say. I don’t think any of us saw ourselves as winners until they hung the medal around our necks,” he said.

The paddler also highlighted his bond with his teammates and the pride of sharing the boat with athletes he had admired even before becoming part of the team. “I came from defending a title that previous generations had won, and for me it’s a source of pride to be paddling with them. They’re my idols and my friends too,” he added.

A reward for a sporting career

Before the race, Rézola had already experienced one of the most special moments of these Games: he was one of the flag bearers for the Argentine delegation during the opening ceremony at the National Flag Memorial.

“The greatest gift I had was being able to carry the flag for the entire Argentine delegation at the Flag Memorial. When they called me, I couldn’t believe it,” he recalled.

For the Santa Fe native, that moment had special value after two decades of representing the country. And the gold in the K4 gave an unforgettable ending to his performance at home. The medal also had a clear dedication: “To my family and my daughter.”

After the race, while the crowd celebrated from the bridges and the shoreline, Rézola was finally able to enjoy a scene he had imagined for a long time: winning in his city, with his teammates, and in front of his people. “In a way, it’s a gift for 20 years of representing the country,” he said. And then he summed it all up in one sentence: “for me, it’s glory.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.