Basque Athletes in Rio Olympics
Garbiñe Muguruza at Rio Olympics
August 8, 2016
Every Olympics, some Basque athletes are always present, usually representing Spain or France. This year we’ve tracked down the following Basque Olympians. If you know of any others, tell us about them in the comments below and we’ll add them to our list. BAT Basque Team is an online presence on Twitter and Facebook following Basque athletes at the Olympics. Most of their tweets are in Spanish and Basque. Also, EITB has a listing of the events of Basque athletes.
RELATED STORY: Basque kayaker wins gold in Rio Olympics
SPAIN
Canoe Slalom, Men’s
Ander Elosegui
Age 28
From Irun, Gipuzkoa
Elosegi came in 2nd place in the semifinals and 8th place in the finals of canoe slalom.
Canoe Slalom, Women’s
Maialen Chourraut
Age 33
From Lasarte, Gipuzkoa
She won a bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics. She came in 11th in Rio preliminaries and goes to semifinals on Thursday, Aug. 11.
Canoe Sprint
Iñigo Peña
Age 25
From Zumaia, Gipuzkoa
Cycling, Men’s – Road
Jonathan Castroviejo
Age 29
From Getxo, Bizkaia
Professional road bicycle racer for the Movistar team.
Castroviejo came in 4th place in Men’s cycling timed trials.
Imanol Erviti
Age 32
From Irunea-Pamplona, Nafarroa
He is a professional road bicycle racer for the Movistar team.
Ion Izaguirre Insausti
Age 27
From Ormaiztegi, Gipuzkoa
He is a professional road bicycle racer for the Movistar team.
He won one of the stages of the recent Tour de France.
Cycling, Women’s – Road
Ane Santesteban
Age 25
From Errenteria, Gipuzkoa
On Aug. 6, she finished 47 in the Olympics women’s cycling race.
Cycling, Men’s – Track
Juan Peralta
Age 26
From Figarol, Nafarroa
Entrevistas con las miembras vascas del equipo de
hockey sobre hierba
Field Hockey, Women’s
Maialen Garcia
Age 26
From Donostia, Gipuzkoa
Maria Lopez de Eguilaz
Age 32
From Getxo, Bizkaia
Patricia Maraña
Rocio Ybarra
Age 31
From Bilbao, Bizkaia
Handball
Nely Carla Alberto
Age 33
From Donostia, Gipuzkoa
Patricia Elorza
Age 32
From Vitoria-Gasteiz, Alaba
Ainhoa Hernandez
Age 22
From Barakaldo, Bizkaia
Elisabeth Pineda</strong
Age 35
From Bilbao, Bizkaia
Judo
Sugoi Uriarte
Age 32
From Vitoria, Alaba
Competed in the London Olympics.
Rowing
Ander Zabala
Age 24
From Santurtzi, Bizkaia
Rugby Sevens
Amaia Erbina
Ordizia, Gipuzkoa
Age 19
“Mi aita me decía que podía estar en Río”
Barbara Pla
Age 33
From Catalonia, but lives in the Basque Country.
Twitter Barbara Pla
Soccer
Ainhoa Tirapu
Age 32
Irunea, Nafarroa
She plays goalie on the Spanish national team. She plays for Athletic Bilbao.
Shooting
Pablo Carrera
Age 30
Bilbao, Bizkaia
Swimming
Markel Alberdi
Age 24
Came in 14th in the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay. Alberdi broke the Spanish national record for 100 m. freestyle in 2014 at 49.25.
Tennis
Garbiñe Muguruza
Age 22
She is from Caracas, Venezuela, but her father, Jose Antonio Muguruza is from Eibar, Gipuzkoa and she represents Spain in tennis competitions
She beat her idol, Serena Williams, in the 2016 French Open
She has already won her first round in the Olympics, in Women’s doubles, with partner Carla Suarez on Sunday Aug. 7
RELATED STORY: Basque Athletes in the 2012 London Olympics
Triathlon
Ainhoa Murua
Age 38
Zarautz,
She has been competing the Olympics in this sport since 2004.
Frank Lostaunau • Aug 13, 2016 at 12:55 pm
The mother of American swimmer Ryan Locte was born in Cuba and she is of Basque descent.
She is an Aramburu!
Mattea zabala • Aug 10, 2016 at 8:33 pm
I’m pretty sure some girls on the Argentina field hockey team are Basque too!
Mary Araquistain • Aug 9, 2016 at 6:55 am
Aren’t there a couple of golfers on the team as well? Female?