SPAIN has won its first Olympic medal – a silver, and but for seven seconds, would have been a gold.
And although Adriana Cerezo says she was aiming for gold, she was still justifiably pleased, as she originally said she would not have been happy with a bronze.
Seven seconds away…Adriana Cerezo really wanted the gold, but a silver is not to be sniffed at, especially when it's Spain's only medal so far (photo: Spanish Olympic Committee, or COE)
This, despite being only 17 years old, but she has plenty more Olympic Games ahead of her, so she is likely to repeat the performance and, after a stunning début, will probably improve on it in her adult life.
She reached the final in Taekwondo in the under 49 kilos (7st 10lb) category, where she was beaten 11-10 by Thailand's Panipak Wongpattanakit – but just seven seconds before the end, was in the lead with the score at 9-10 to Adriana.
“There's always such a huge effort behind it all – everyone comes here trained to their peak; I've been really enjoying myself in the Olympic Village and really enjoyed the championships,” says the Madrid-born teenager.
“Shame that in the last few seconds I wasn't able to do what we'd planned. But as things are, I'm very pleased.”
She hopes her silver will be 'the first of many' for Spain.
“I'm really happy to have 'opened the tin' and hope lots more medals are on their way,” she told reporters.
So far, women's tennis seems to be on the right track, but men's tennis less so, and women's kayaking could be another imminent candidate for a medal.
Several top Spanish names will not appear on the schedule for Tokyo 2020 – held a year late due to the pandemic – including tennis ace Rafael Nadal, and golfer Jon Rahm, the first Spaniard since Seve Ballesteros to reach world number one but who has had to scratch from the Games due to testing positive for Covid-19.
