Spanish athlete David Cal: ‘I felt like I was breaking a curse when I won gold in Athens’

He admits that at the time he was victorious, perhaps because of his shyness, he did not know how to absorb the “side effects” of the fame that his sporting achievements brought him, but that today it is David who helps us in the short distances. Cal (Galicia, 1982) relaxed, relaxed in his office at UCAM (Catholic University of Murcia), where he has worked for eight years. And here we are, the Spanish athlete with the best record of Olympic medals. This is nothing: gold and silver in Athens 2004, two silvers in Beijing 2008 and a silver in London 2012. He also won five medals at the World Canoe Championships between 2003 and 2011, and five medals at the European Championships between 2004 and 2012. He received the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2013, the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sports Merit in 2006, the Gold Medal of Sports Merit in 2006 and the Don Felipe de Borbón Award for the best Spanish athlete of the year in 2004.