In addition to their Olympic golds, Primož Roglič, Sifan Hassan, Sandra Sánchez, Adam Peatty, Anders Mol and Christian Sørum have something in common: the Canary Islands. These athletes chose the archipelago to train and prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and they were not the only ones. Up to fifty Olympic medallists set up their training base in the Canary Islands in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.
With dreams of an Olympic gold, some of the best athletes on the planet, including cyclists, sailors, swimmers, beach volleyball players, and track athletes, choose the Canary Islands as their training base.
Canary Islands Tourism Manager, José Juan Lorenzo, said “Professional sports tourism is a segment which is continuously growing. It provides a point of focus for Canary Islands Tourism. The archipelago has unique natural conditions and first-class facilities for elite competition preparation. The results that athletes have achieved after training in the Canary Islands demonstrate the potential of the Canary Islands. Further national and international professional teams will arrive.”
A Destination Chosen by the Best
The Canary Islands has all the necessary elements for professional sportspeople and their teams to maximise their training. Athletes of the same calibre as Primož Roglič, Olympic champion cyclist in Tokyo 2020 and recent triple winner of the Vuelta a España, choose the archipelago for altitude training.
Roglič visited Tenerife three times this year with Team Jumbo-Visma in preparation for the Olympics. Commenting on training in the archipelago, Roglič explains, “The Canary Islands offer a perfect combination for cyclists. Tenerife has many climbs, very good roads, and an exceptional climate. It is the only place where we can do high-altitude training camps in good conditions.”
Meanwhile, Brazilian sailors, Kahena Kunze and Martine Grael, established their training base on the island of Lanzarote, in preparation for Tokyo 2020 where they won gold in the women’s skiff 49er FX medal race. 200 other sailors from around the world also chose Lanzarote this past winter to prepare for the Olympics, including Ireland’s Annalise Murphy and the British Olympic Sailing Team. 23 of these sailors took home Gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
As far as swimming is concerned, the training camp, Tenerife Top Training (T3), is a favourite for the world’s top performers. Here, big names, such as Evengy Rilov, Gregorio Paltrinieri, Florent Manadou, Sarah Sjöström, and Britain’s Adam Peaty, have established training camps.
Triple Olympic Champion, Adam Peaty, said “In England we don’t have this sun, so we don’t have many opportunities to train outside. [The Canary Islands] is the only place in Europe for this type of training”.
Kevin Korff, the director of the T3 centre explains: “The teams choose us because in the Canary Islands there is good weather practically every day of the year. Since December we have been receiving Swiss, Belgian, German, Austrian, American, Israeli, and Hungarian athletes”.
About forty swimmers who have trained at the T3 centre achieved medals at Tokyo 2020, including Spanish swimmer, Miguel Luque, who won silver in the 50m breaststroke at the Paralympic Games. Luque, who has participated in six Olympic games, said, “I choose the T3 for many reasons, but mainly because it is one of the most complete installations. In the same space you have a 25-metre pool, a 50 metre pool, and a hydrodynamic channel. Where else in the world can you find that?”
Another discipline perfectly suited to Canary Islands training is beach volleyball. The Norwegian Federation has been preparing in the Canary Islands since 2002, and new Olympic champions from the Scandinavian country, Anders Mol and Christian Sørum recently trained in Arona, South Tenerife.
“Arona has the best climate in Europe. It is very stable and that allows us to train all day…Sometimes we have also traveled to Brazil and other destinations, but it is easier to travel to the Canary Islands from Norway or Europe. We prefer not to make long trips, that is why the Canary Islands is perfect,” the pair commented.
The natural conditions of the Canary Islands make the archipelago a paradise for professional training and active sports, offering sunny days, trade winds, several hours of daylight, as well as the opportunity to continue training at high-level accommodation and sports facilities around the islands.
The connectivity of the Canaries allows athletes to reach the Archipelago from the United Kingdom in approx. four hours. The islands have 1,500km of coastline washed by volcanic waters rich in nutrients and suitable for thalassotherapy, perfect for helping athletes with a quick recovery.
For more information on training in the Canary Islands please visit www.hellocanaryislands.com
IMAGES: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sqq8l93mdf1588c/AABimqZhEzzrLbEqtIJ3nWiVa?dl=0
ENDS
For more information on the Canary Islands please contact Ali Finnegan ali@travelmedia.ie