Most people, if you give them a book, they will sniff it around for a while and then try to eat it.
Leonardo da Vinci
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Jaël Bestué (22) confesses: last summer she caressed the sky. He did it with the 4x100 relay. They were fifth in the World Cup in Oregon and fourth in the European Championship in Munich.
Who would have thought it a few years ago, when the presence of our sprinters in a great championship was a testimonial matter!
(Ricardo Diéguez, the panter, responsible for women's speed in our country and trainer of Jaël Bestué, has a lot to do with this).
Jaël Bestué touched the sky, then.
And then?
"Well, let's just say I'm a bit surprised. The truth is that I expected an economic leap that has not occurred. I'm still the same as four years ago, when I wasn't an Olympian or fifth in a World Cup. Now I have achieved all these things, but I don't even have a car!
And adds:
–To come to the CAR in Sant Cugat, for example, I do it by bus. I live in Sant Cugat itself with my mother, Beatriz, who is a social worker. And I have to be careful with the schedules: from the CAR, the buses leave every hour. And then, the journey home takes half an hour... I wish some car brand would sponsor me, but for now this is what it is.
(If you get confused, the return home can take forever).
And how far do you plan to go? I ask him.
(We are talking in the CAR cafeteria. Ten days have passed since the talk).
–Since I was little, every year I have been improving and I think I will continue to grow. I want to be the best, that's what I'm for.
A glance at the resume corroborates her thesis: in the lower categories, Jaël Bestué sees two world podiums and another European.
Tells me:
–Last summer, at the Oregon World Championships, I was on the track, waiting my turn to play the final of the relay, and behind me was Elaine Thompson. My idol! I looked at her because of her reflection, I could smell her... And having her there, knowing that we were playing a medal with the Jamaicans, made me believe that I was one of the best. And that's how I feel.
(These days she is focused. She is inspired. She has broken the 60m record for Catalonia twice and is already the second Spanish all-time, with 7s19. She runs faster than Sandra Myers, another of the best in history. And next week, Jaël Bestué leaves for the European indoor event in Istanbul).
–As a child, did you see yourself as the athlete you are today?
The current has brought me here. In the school newsrooms he did not say that he wanted to be an athlete, but rather work in an office.
The daughter of a Guinean father and a Catalan mother, her passion comes from Ella, her sister, two years older. Or a professor at Joan Maragall in Sant Cugat. The man encouraged them to run and jump. He took them to crosses, miles, relays...
–I won crosses, you know?
His revelation confuses me.
Well, speed and cross-country are antonyms.
–Then I went to the Club Esportiu Muntanyenc de Sant Cugat and then the panter appeared. Then he was already 13 years old. And a small group was assembled, with Ella included, and I focused on speed. Although I have always been clear about what this is.
And he reminds me that he is between 3rd and 4th year in Medicine (he goes to the Clínic) and that he likes Pediatrics ("I hope I can travel to the most disadvantaged countries to help children"), and that he studied eight years at the Conservatory and plays the saxophone and the piano and sometimes takes singing lessons.
-And all this?
"At the end of the day, you have to cover yourself. Now I earn some money (he has income from the Spanish, Catalan and Barça Federations, and Adidas gives him material), but what would happen if I get injured and they don't renew me? Getting into a mortgage or a car is a leap into the void. Better to secure the future in other ways.
-So, you are not a professional athlete...
-I think so. Some level athletes believe that you cannot be a professional if you study or work. I look at Maribel Pérez (magnificent sprinter) and I see that she is part-time in a clinic and that she performs like a professional athlete...
