Diego García Carrera: "I'm going to fight for everything in Tokyo, we've never had this level in the national team"

Diego García Carrera (Madrid, 1996), champion of Spain of the 20-kilometer march and Skechers athlete, could become one of the great assets of Spain to get a medal in the Olympic Games of Tokyo 2020.

Their feelings and their results say so, such as the victory in that category, a 20-kilometer march, in the Cantonese Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious international events, a key event to measure the level just before the Olympic Games.

In Tokyo it will compete in the same category. With his results, Diego García feeds the hopes of Spanish sport for Tokyo and will allow him to have revenge with respect to the Rio 2016 event, when an injury separated him from the Games. Now it is a serious medal option.

"I believe that this year I am competing above my level, that means that the training is paying off and that I continue to improve every year and it has just coincided with the fact that it was an Olympic year.

In the case of the national team, we now have a level that we have never had when it comes to brands. This must be endorsed in the medals of the Olympic Games”, Assures Diego.

"It's going to be a Surprise Games"

The test of the 20 km march from Tokyo has had to move to Sapporo due to the harsh weather that could mean for the teams due to the humidity and heat of the test in the Japanese capital.

Variations that, together with the health circumstances that are shaking the world, could host unexpected results.

"At a general level, they will be games of surprises because the conditions we have in each country are different. People who manage to be smart and care about having good training conditions are being rewarded”, Analyzes Diego García.

He knows what he is talking about and uses as an example how tough the 2019 Doha World Cup was, where the extreme heat conditioned the race.

To this must be added the difficulty of preparing during the current time of the pandemic. Conditioning factors that do not scare you.

Diego prefers to show off his international successes as an argument to be optimistic. At the 2018 Berlin European Championship he was runner-up.

Spain has in the march one of its best bastions to obtain metals at the Tokyo 2021 event. "When I go out to compete I always go for it, I always go out to try to win because it is the only way after trying to end up winning.

I would like to fight for everything, right now I am 7th in the world ranking. If I can get a little closer and fight for the medals I will certainly fight itr ”, says the Skechers athlete. Five of the fourteen Olympic medals that Spain has achieved in athletics have been in the walking category.

"I don't mind being left out because of a false positive"

One of the sports difficulties that, Diego García warns, could have the development of the Olympic Games in the middle of the pandemic is the strict security control, which could cause unforeseen withdrawals due to isolated positives.

"Swhat gives me a bit of a thing en have daily PCRs done in Japan. PCRs are almost always right, but have a minimal margin of error.

We are talking about that at least 2.000 people are going to be doing a daily PCR. There will be people who statistically fail the PCR in Tokyo, who give false positive and stay out of the Games unfairly”, Warns.

Diego García believes that it could be a good year for the Spanish delegation: “I would invite all the fans to follow us closely this year.

It is very important for us that they support us in an event like the Olympic Games ”, he enthuses. "Training with him is a luxury, it makes your day to day much easier, he knows how to encourage you and is an example for everyone”Says Álvaro López, his teammate and also a Skechers athlete.

Diego and music: an athlete with a lot of 'gear'

Diego García's coaches assure that his skills off the track, his concern for fields as far apart as music or the Stock Market, have helped him grow a lot since he could not be in Rio 2016.

Diego plays the trombone, has his own band and during confinement he dedicated himself to filling his social networks with 'concerts' that he recorded with his sister.

"My history with music began many years ago because my parents enrolled me in the conservatory that was near my house.

I was very restless and they wanted to calm me down”, He jokes. "I also chose the trombone a bit by chance because there were four or five instruments left and that one caught my attention. Since then I play the trombone, music is a very important part of my life.

Right now I'm doing a master's degree in record production”, He affirms, uncovering his cultural concerns.

Diego García highlights the role of his family: “We are also a family of musicians, my parents don't play anything, but they really like music.

My sister is the crack, she does percussion and plays various instruments, she also plays guitar, piano and sax".