Olympics in history: Spain's 121-year career, before and after Barcelona

KNOWN for its late surges but rarely near the top, often standing out in minority disciplines, Spain has generally been successful enough in Olympic Games to be proud of itself but in a discreet, behind-the-scenes fashion, and this year is no exception.

The stories behind the nation's medals and diplomas often unmask far greater achievements than their colours seem to bear out – as has certainly been the case with its first two bronzes, David Valero's starting out nearly last in mountain-biking and then steaming ahead to take a very hard-fought third place, and Pablo Carreño's knocking out world tennis number one Novak Djoković enabling him to squeeze onto the podium – or, in past Games, weightlifter Lydia Valentín being justly pleased with herself for getting a fourth, fifth and a bronze in three consecutive Olympics only to find out up to a decade later that she actually had a medal in each colour after those who had seemingly beaten her to it at the time were disqualified for doping.

Now, in the 32nd Olympic Games of the modern era and the 29th to actually be held – after Berlin 1916, Helsinki 1940 and London 1944 were cancelled due to the World Wars – and the only one to have been shelved in peacetime, at Tokyo 2020, taking place in 2021, Spain currently ranks a modest 24th in the medal count with one gold, three silvers and three bronzes; not a shameful result, though, given that 76 nations currently feature, with the five jointly at number 72 with one bronze each being Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire (formerly also known by its English translation of Ivory Coast), Finland, Kuwait and Malaysia.

Spain currently has the second-largest medal collection of all Spanish-speaking countries in the modern-era history of the Games, after Cuba.

At the time of publication, China was leading the field with 51, of which 24 were gold, followed by the USA on 59 with 20 golds, Japan (31, and 17 golds) and Australia (31, with 14 golds).

Countries in the top 10 on the medal count tend to be the ones making world news, so you may not have read or heard a great deal about Spain's 121-year Olympic career.

Time to redress the balance, we think – after all, a country that can produce a male and a female world number one tennis player at the same time (Rafael Nadal and Garbiñe Muguruza), history's top female swimmer and badminton player (Mireia Belmonte and Carolina Marín respectively), a football team that won two UEFA Euros back to back with a FIFA World Cup in the middle, and some of the highest-achieving motorsport competitors, deserves a bit more attention on the international sporting stage.

Welcoming the new century

As everyone knows, the Olympics started out in Ancient Greece, but the Games as we know them today began in the same country after they were revived by the Baron of Coubertin in 1894, and finally held in 1896, in Athens – which would go on to host them again 108 years later, in 2004.

Spain did not take part, but kicked off a new century with a gold medal – the nation's début was at Paris 1900, where Francisco Villota and José de Amézola won the Jai-alai or pelota vasca, the Basque Country's traditional handball game.

Remember their names in case you're ever on a quiz show and asked who won Spain's first-ever gold.

Also remember it was the first time women took part (but not Spanish women; all competitors from Spain were male) and an eight-year-old boy as mascot for The Netherlands' rowing team.

Spain's Pedro Pidal won a silver in pigeon-shooting, which for obvious reasons is no longer an Olympic sport – but in a Games where non-Olympic sports did, in fact, have their place, despite controversy (it was the only one where you could have won a medal in the sack-race, for example).

The International Olympic Committee did not recognise Pidal's silver, and gave him a pipe as a consolation prize, but the Spanish Olympic Committee does, and it features in its register.

The '20 Olympics that actually happened in the right year

Spain vanished from the Olympic scene for a whole two decades, although in practice only missed three (the first non-European one, in San Luis, USA, in 1904; London 1908 – due to take place in Rome, but Italy's financial disaster caused by Vesuvius' eruption in 1906 forced the Games to move; and Stockholm 1912), given that World War I put paid to Berlin 1916.

The 1920 Olympics took place in Amberes, Belgium; other than 1904, the Games did not step outside the European continent until Los Angeles 1932.

It was in Amberes that Spain made its comeback, sending 67 sportsmen – and no sportswomen – to Belgium and returning with two silvers, one in football after knocking out Sweden in the semi-finals, and one in polo.

This was the year the Olympic flag, designed by modern-era Games pioneer the Baron of Coubertin and with its five rings signifying the five continents first appeared, and was also the year when competitors were ordered to swear an official declaration against racism, which had reared its ugly head in San Luis 1904.

Countries banned for spearheading World War I were Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey and the USSR, and were replaced by first-time competitors Argentina, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Finland, and New Zealand.

Games for girls

It was only 97 years ago – within the lifetime of some people still with us today – that Spain finally sent women to the Olympics; Paris, due to host the 2024 Games, also did so exactly a century earlier, and it was then that females from Spain first joined their menfolk in the battle for a medal for their country.

Lilí Álvarez and Rosa Torras made a formidable pair in doubles tennis in 1924, but only reached the quarter-finals; however, the men did not fare much better, as none of Spain's 107 competitors returned from the French capital with a medal.

Elsewhere in the world, Paris 1924 was a first for another community, not just Spanish women: Dehart, from the USA, became the first black competitor to win an Olympic gold, coming first in the long-jump.

Women were still limited as to what they were allowed to participate in, though: In Amsterdam 1928, females in athletics were only permitted to compete in the 100 metres, 800 metres, discus and high-jump, but were then barred from the 800 metres again until Rome 1960, as it was considered girls were not physically strong enough for such a long distance.

Spain covered itself with glory in team showjumping, with a gold for José Navarro Morenés, Julio García Fernández and José Álvares de las Asturias – an even greater achievement given that there were only three of them. In equestrian team sports, the usual number is four, so that the weakest score can be dropped from the final count; Spain in 1928 did not have this lifeline, so every competitor needed to give their best as they could not rely on having theirs discounted if they racked up loads of faults.

Women from Spain continued to take part in Olympics, but from their début in 1924, it would be another 68 years before any of them won a medal; in the first 92 years of the country's participation in the Games, only men would grace the podium for Spain.

Shooting for the stars

Los Angeles 1932 was only the second Olympics in the 20th century to take place outside Europe, and it was a star-studded one, even if not for the actual competitors: Spain's Santiago Amat earned a bronze in sailing and target-shooter José González Delgado took away a fourth-place diploma for 25-metres pistol, but the figures who really took centre stage were silver-screen household names. Sportsmen and sportswomen found themselves mingling with the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford, Douglas Fairbanks and Gary Cooper – a memorable finale for Spain before a long break from the Games as a result of the mid-century conflict across Europe.

As well as Helsinki 1940 and London 1944 being called off due to World War II, Spain missed Berlin 1936 as the Civil War had broken out, the start of three years of violence that would culminate in General Franco rising to power and a fascist dictatorship that would only end with his death in 1975.

In fact, Spanish horses and their riders had already set up camp in Germany for the team showjumping in 1936, but ended up having to return home without competing.

The comeback

London hosted the first Games after World War II, in 1948, when rationing was still in place, food was sparse in the Olympic Village – which was made up of disused Army barracks – but Spain, living in similar poverty in the long aftermath of the Civil War and the early years of the dictatorship, still managed to send 70 competitors.

Spaniards took part in modern pentathlon, water polo, boxing, athletics, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, field hockey and showjumping, with its only medal coming from the latter.

Once again, José Navarro Morenés made it to the podium, along with team-mates Jaime García Cruz and Marcelino Gavilán, after netting the silver.

Armed conflict was still an issue at the 1952 Olympics, held in Helsinki during the height of the Cold War, when Stalin refused to allow the Olympic torch to enter Russia and competitors from capitalist and communist countries were segregated, the Soviets banned from mixing with any of the other nations.

It was the first time Spain would win a medal for trap shooting – a silver for Ángel León – out of only four to date, the latest of which was in the first-ever mixed team competition and the first gold for the country in the sport, just days ago in Tokyo for Fátima Gálvez and Alberto Fernández.

Helsinki 1952 was also the first time men and women competed together in equestrian sports. Showjumping, dressage and horse trials or eventing are among the few Olympic disciplines where there is no segregation of the sexes, since performance is not affected by the differences in physique or strength of men and women, but by those of the horses they ride.

It was the last time, before London 2012, that the UK would win a showjumping team gold, and was the year that the country's current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, ascended to the throne.

Equestrian sports were a bit of a sticking point at the next Olympics – the first-ever Games in the southern hemisphere, moved to November in order to take place in the right season, Melbourne 1956 was actually Stockholm 1956 for showjumping, dressage, eventing, polo and anything else involving horses, since Australia's border control and public health laws prevented animals from entering the country, even for élite sports – instead, these disciplines took place in Sweden.

Spain did not enter the country, either: Along with The Netherlands and Switzerland, it boycotted the Games in response to the USSR's invasion of Hungary; China boycotted them as Taiwan had been recognised as a separate nation for the competition – China considers Taiwan to be a province of the larger country, not an independent sovereign territory - and Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq pulled out in protest over Israel's taking part, following the Sinai War.

Another comeback for Spain, Rome 1960, saw its largest-ever group of sportsmen and sportswomen taking part – a total of 143, of whom 11 were female and who competed in gymnastics, swimming and fencing – but only took home one medal, a bronze in field hockey after beating the UK 2-1.

Rome 1960 was not devoid of political issues, either: Legendary boxer Mohammed Ali won the featherweight gold, but publicly threw his medal in the river in protest over widespread racism at the time.

Tokyo's first time

As well as hosting the first Olympics with the wrong date – 2020, but in 2021 – Tokyo was the city where the first team sport for women was introduced: Volleyball, in 1964.

And unlike Tokyo 2020, Spain went home empty-handed from Tokyo 1964 in terms of medals, but did gain diplomas for fourth place in field hockey and for sixth place for Luis Felipe Areta in long-jump, and made headlines for the wrong reasons; another controversy in boxing, this time centred on Valentín Loren who was disqualified for attacking an umpire.

The race relations issue highlighted in boxing in the previous Olympics took centre stage in the next Games, México City 1968 – a year when Robert Kennedy and high-profile 'black lives matter' activist Martin Luther King were assassinated, and when the USA's runners Tommy Smith and John Carlos raised a fist during the national anthem whilst on the podium for the 200 metres as an anti-racism symbol. But unlike in 2021, when this would be seen as an heroic and necessary tribute and where it has become habitual for sports persons to get down on one knee in homage to the 'black lives matter' movement, in 1968 it ended up with these two athletes being thrown out of their national team.

Thankfully, attitudes have changed in those 53 years, but a more positive feature of sport - for Spain - has not: Although Tokyo 2020 saw Garbiñe Muguruza crash out and Rafa Nadal not taking part, Spanish tennis has clearly been a force to be reckoned with for decades. Manuel Santana took the gold in men's singles in México 1968 and his compatriot Manuel Orantes took the silver, and Santana got another silver in the men's doubles with Juan Gisbert. 

Back to boxing, Spain's first Olympic medal in the sport was a bronze for Enrique Rodríguez Cal in featherweight in Munich 1972, when runner Mariano Haro took home a very creditable and hard-won fourth-place diploma in the 10,000 metres – but which was otherwise a Games everyone would rather forget.

If you were an adult, or a child old enough to know what was going on, and had a TV on Munich's so-called 'Black Tuesday', the reasons for this desired amnesia need no explanation. If you were too young or not yet born, it was the most violent and tragic in the history of the Games: A terrorist commando from the Palestinian organisation 'Black September' burst into the Olympic Village, killed two Israeli competitors and took nine others hostage, demanding the release of 200 Palestinian fighters imprisoned in Israel in exchange for their freedom. They allowed the hostages to travel by helicopter to Munich airport, where the German police opened fire and hurled grenades. All the hostages, three of the six kidnappers and a German policeman were killed.

The disaster led to the Games being postponed for 34 hours and a funeral ceremony being held in the stadium, after which Israel expressed its desire for the competitions to continue – but pulled its own teams out, as did Norway, The Netherlands and The Philippines.

Spanish cyclist Jaime Huélamo also wanted to forget Munich 1972 – he came third, but missed out on his bronze medal as an anti-doping check found he had been taking a substance called Coramina, which was permitted by the Cycling Federation, but banned by the International Olympic Committee, meaning he was disqualified.

Glory for Spain on the water

After the horrors of Munich 1972, Montréal 1976 would be Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci's big moment: At just 14 years old, she earned the first 10 ever awarded for an exercise in the Olympics – a glittering milestone in a career that had only just begun.

For Spain, it was a near-perfect six: Cantabria's Antonio Goróstegui Ceballos and his sailing partner Pedro Luis Millet Soler took a silver, whilst their compatriots José María Esteban Celorrio, José Ramón López Díaz-Flor, Herminio Menéndez Rodríguez and Luis Gregorio Ramos Misioné took the team bronze in the K-4 canoeing.

Another 'perfect six' for Spain with its largest medal count to date came at Moscow 1980, a Games boycotted by the USA and over 50 other countries in support after the USSR invaded Afghanistan and refused to withdraw its troops.

Spain, which took part but flew its flag at half-mast during the Olympic anthem, netted a gold in the Flying Dutchman sailing category with Alejandro Abascal and Miguel Noguer, silvers in the 50-kilometres walking with Jordi Llopart, in K-2 canoeing 500 metres for Guillermo del Riego Rincón and, once again, Herminio Menéndez Rodríguez, as a pair, and also for the field hockey team, and bronzes for swimmer David López Zubero in the 100-metres butterfly and for Herminio, once more, with Luis Gregorio Ramos Misioné, in the 1,000-metres canoeing.

At the next Olympics, it was the USSR which did the boycotting and the USA the hosting - 52 years after last time, Los Angeles 1984 became the first Games with corporate sponsorship, as multinationals such as Coca-Cola and General Motors chipped in, and was also the first time synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics were introduced.

Spain's Juan Antonio Samaranch became the nation's first International Olympic Committee chairman, and it was the start of Olympic diplomas being awarded to eighth place, rather than to sixth.

Samaranch brought Spain some luck, as it returned across the pond with five medals, including a gold, which went to Roberto Molina and Luis Doreste in the 470 sailing.

An historic silver for the men's basketball team, a pairs silver for Fernando Climent and Luis María Lasúrtegui in rowing, a pairs bronze for Enrique Miguez and Narciso Suárez in K-2 canoeing and an individual bronze for runner José Abascal in the 1,500 metres – a race that saw the UK shine, with a gold for Sebastian Coe and a silver for Steve Cram – gave Spain its second-largest medal haul in 84 years.

Royalty was a prominent presence for Spain at Seoul 1988, only the second time the Olympics had been held in Asia – the Infanta Cristina, sister of the current King Felipe VI and daughter of the then reigning monarch, King Juan Carlos I (who abdicated in 2014), was the flag-bearer for Spain. She did not bring home a medal, but her country carried off four, again with water featuring heavily. José Luis Doreste in the Finn sailing category netted the gold, Emilio Sánchez Vicario – Wimbledon winner Arantxa's brother - and Sergio Casal got a silver in the men's tennis doubles, swimmer Sergi López took the bronze in the 200-metres front crawl and Jorge Guardiola gained Spain's second medal in trap shooting, a bronze in the 'skeet' category.

Spain's big moment: Barcelona 1992 and girls on the podium

Despite bids by Madrid to host the 2012 and 2020 Olympics, Spain has only once been venue to the Games, and tourists in Barcelona still take a trip around the stadium on the Montjuïc mountain after riding up it in a cable car. The stadium is often used for major pop and rock concerts, and when the Games opened in it in 1992, a powerful and memorable pop, rock – and opera – moment took place: Two late legends, Queen's Freddie Mercury and Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé, performed their 1988 duet Barcelona at the inauguration ceremony.

Freddie performed posthumously, via voice recordings, and Montserrat – who passed away in October 2018 aged 85 - sang her part live. 

Samaranch was still International Olympic Committee chairman when the Games were held in his country – in fact, in his native city - and whether it was a feeling of patriotism spurring them on or whether they were simply more comfortable competing on home territory, the Spanish team amassed a whopping 22 medals between them, of which 13 were gold.

Runner Fermín Cacho in the 1,500 metres; Daniel Plaza in the 20-kilometres walking; José Manuel Moreno in time track trial cycling; swimmer Martín López Zubero in 200-metres backstroke; José Luis Doreste and Domingo Manrique in Flying Dutchman sailing; José María van der Ploeg in Finn sailing; Jordi Calafat and Kiko Sánchez in men's 470 sailing; Teresa Zabell and Patricia Guerra in women's 470 sailing; Almudena Muñoz in women's half lightweight 52 kilos judo; the men's archery team of Antonio Vázquez, Alfonso Menéndez and Juan Holgado; the men's football team and the women's field hockey team all won golds.

But it was Míriam Blasco in the lightweight 56 kilos judo who made history – her gold was the first Olympic medal ever won by a Spanish woman, the first female from Spain to grace the podium in 92 years.

Although she beat the UK's Nicola Fairbrother, there were no hard feelings between them – in fact, they married in 2016 and are still together.

Barcelona 1992 gave its home country seven silvers, including a joint one for the only two Spanish women in tennis who ever won Wimbledon in the 20th century, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Conchita Martínez – the former won the women's doubles at the All England court in 1995 and the latter won the women's singles there in 1994, the last ladies from Spain to net a Wimbledon trophy before Conchita's own pupil Garbiñe Muguruza did in 2017.

At the Barcelona Olympics, Arantxa and Conchita earned a silver in the women's doubles, and Arantxa got a bronze in the women's singles.

The other Barcelona bronze went to pole-vaulter Javier García Chico, and the other silvers went to Natalia Vía-Dufresene (sailing); Carolina Pascual (gymnastics); Faustino Reyes (boxing); Antonio Peñalver (decathlon); Jordi Arrese (men's singles tennis); and the men's water polo team.

The glory was not entirely Spain's, though: Runner Derartu Tulu, from Ethiopia, won the 10,000 metres and became the first African athlete to get a gold.

A century on

Athens was earmarked to hold the Olympics in its centenary year as it did in its first, but the US city of Atlanta was considered more viable financially for the 1996 Games. It looked to become another Munich after a massive terrorist attack left two dead and 110 injured, but it was decided the show must go on in honour of the victims.

It was the year that, a quarter of a century on, would give Spain's David Valero his Tokyo 2020 bronze, since it was the first Games for mountain-biking to be introduced – along with women's football, light rowing, beach volleyball and the exclusively-female sport of softball.

Barcelona continues to be Spain's 'Golden Games', in more ways than one; it finished sixth in the medal count and has never yet beaten its total of 22, although the home-turf Olympics marked a 'before and after' for the country and, on average, its competitors now carry home at least 10.

Atlanta 1996 was no different – a total of 79 countries earned medals, the most widely-distributed awards ever seen, and Spain gained 17, with many of its Barcelona stars retaining their glory.

Five golds went to the women's rhythmic gymnastics team; the men's water polo team; Natalia Vía-Dufresne and Teresa Zabell as a pair in the women's 470 sailing; José Luis Ballester and Fernando León as a pair in the Tornado sailing; and Miguel Induráin in the men's road time trial cycling.

Six silvers went to, once again, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, for women's singles tennis; Ernesto Pérez in men's heavyweight over-95 kilos judo; Abraham Olano in the men's road time trial cycling; Sergi Bruguera in men's singles tennis; runner Fermín Cacho in the men's 1,500 metres; and to the men's field hockey team.

One of the six bronzes went to the men's handball team, who included the Infanta Cristina's husband Iñaki Urdangarín; Arantxa and Conchita showed they were a tennis 'dream team' once again with a bronze in the women's doubles; Isabel Fernández in women's lightweight 56 kilos judo, Yolanda Soler in women's extra lightweight 48 kilos judo, Rafael Lozano in men's light flyweight 48 kilos boxing, and Valentí Massana in the men's 50 kilometres walking also gained bronzes.

The third millennium

How has Spain fared so far this century? Starting off the Millennium with the Games returning to the southern hemisphere for the first time since 1956, Sydney 2000 was disappointing for Spanish sports now that Barcelona had raised the bar so high, but for those who remembered Moscow 1980 and the euphoria of taking home a staggering six, the first medal haul of the 21st century was, at a total of 11, fairly commendable. 

Iñaki Urdangarín, who was then still Duke of Palma – a title he would lose 14 years later – repeated his performance, along with the rest of his handball team, gaining a bronze, one of five to Spain's competitors. The others were María Vasco (20 kilometres walking); Àlex Corretja and Albert Costa (men's doubles tennis); Margarita Fullana (mountain-biking); and swimmer Nina Zhivanevskaya (100-metres backstroke).

Three silvers went to the men's under-23 football team; Rafael Lozano, again, in boxing, and Gabriel Esparza in men's flyweight 58 kilos Taekwondo.

Three golds went home to Spain – for Isabel Fernández, improving on her Atlanta bronze in judo; Joan Llaneras, in men's points race cycling, and gymnast Gervasio Deferr in men's vault.

Isabel Fernández would, as a result of this achievement, become the flag-bearer for Spain at the Athens 2004 Olympics in the opening ceremony, where David Cal, who won the gold in men's K-1 canoeing 1,000 metres and a silver in the men's C-1 500 metres, carried the standard at the closing ceremony.

His was one of three golds, with Gervasio Deferr repeating his men's vault brilliance of Sydney 2000, and sailing pair Xabier Fernández and Iker Martínez winning the 49er class.

Of the total of 20, silvers were most prominent in Athens, making up 11 – María Quintanal would be the last medallist in trap shooting until Tokyo 2020, and for the first time, Spain won a team dressage medal, with the country's first woman taking one home for an equestrian sport: Beatriz Ferrer-Salat and three men, Juan Antonio Jiménez, Ignacio Rambla and Rafael Soto came second, then Beatriz went on to earn a bronze in the individual dressage.

Paquillo Fernández got a silver in the men's 20-kilometre walking, Rafael Trujillo in the Finn class sailing, Sandra Azón and Natalia Vía-Dufresne as a pair in women's 470 sailing, Conchita Martínez – this time with Virginia Ruano Pascual – in women's doubles tennis, Joan Llaneras in men's points race cycling, José Antonio Escuredo in men's Keirin cycling, pair Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera in men's beach volleyball, and José Antonio Hermida in men's cross-country cycling.

Manuel Martínez Gutiérrez earned a bronze in men's shot-put, Sergi Escobar in men's individual pursuit cycling and also in the team event with Carlos Castaño, Asier Maetzu and Carlos Torrent, Joan Lino Martínez gained a bronze in men's long-jump, and gymnast Patricia Moreno in women's floor.

David Cal was flag-bearer once again at Peking 2008, although this time at the opening ceremony, and Joan Llaneras carried it in the closing ceremony after an Olympics that made Usain Bolt a household name, reaffirmed Michael Phelps as the fastest man in the water, and saw tennis whizz Rafael Nadal net his first medal – a gold, naturally, in the men's singles.

The Tokyo 2020 flag-bearer – along with swimmer Mireia Belmonte – Saúl Craviotto got his first gold, in a pair with Carlos Pérez in K-2 canoeing 500 metres, whilst sailing duo Fernando Echavarri and Antón Paz Blanco won the Tornado class, and cyclists Samuel Sánchez and Joan Llaneras won the men's road race and points race respectively.

Yet again, the men's handball team won a bronze, but this time without Urdangarín on it; cyclist Leire Olaberría got the bronze in the women's points race, as did José Luis Abajo in men's individual épée fencing.

Spain took home 11 silvers, but thought it only had 10 at the time. Lydia Valentín earned a fifth-place diploma at her first-ever Games, and was quite happy with it for the next 10 years, until she found out three competitors ranked above her had been disqualified for doping and she had actually earned the silver.

Those who took home their silvers on the right day were the men's basketball team – with the Gasol brothers Pau and Marc on it; the men's field hockey team; the women's synchronised swimming team; Gervasio Deferr (this time in men's floor exercises); David Cal, twice, in the C-1 canoeing 500 metres and 1,000 metres; women's synchronised swimming pair Andrea Fuentes and Gemma Mengual; men's cycling Madison pair Joan Llaneras and Antonio Tauler; Virginia Ruano Pascual again, this time with Anabel Medina Garrigues, in women's doubles tennis; and sailing pair Xabier Fernández and Iker Martínez in the 49er class, falling short of their Athens gold.

The 2010s – and bad luck, Madrid

Back in 2005, all of Spain waited with its breath held and its fingers crossed to hear its capital city would be hosting the 2012 Olympics, and looking keenly forward to another Barcelona 1992 when the entire nation was feeling the vibe, patriotic sentiment flowing and sporting glory flashing across every headline.

Alas, it was not to be, but British expats in Spain at least felt they'd earned a consolation prize when London was revealed to be the host again after 64 years.

For the British showjumping team – Nick Skelton, Peter Charles, Ben Maher and Scott Brash – it would also be a ground-breaking Games, with their first Olympic gold since Helsinki 1952 and the UK's achieving the best results overall in equestrian sports, with a silver for the eventing team who included Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughter Zara Phillips, a gold and a bronze in individual dressage, and a gold in the team dressage.

But London 2012 would bring crashing disappointment for the hitherto unstoppable Rafa Nadal, who had shocked the tennis world by getting knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round as a result of a knee injury that would also put paid to the Olympics – and his chance of carrying the flag for his country at the opening ceremony.

This bitter blow would be nicely made up for in 2016, though, when Rafa was flag-bearer in Rio de Janeiro and won a doubles gold with his old friend Marc López.

London 2012 was another frustrating year for Lydia Valentín, although the frustration was waiting for her six years into the future: She gained a fourth-place diploma in the British capital, improving on her Peking fifth and still a very creditable result for a second Olympics. Then, at the same time as she found out about her Peking silver, she discovered the entire podium in London had been disqualified for doping and she had actually gained the gold – but with none of the celebration, sense of triumph, or potential sponsorship this would have given her if she had known about it in 2012 rather than in 2019.

High-jumper Ruth Beitia, from Cantabria, was another who left without a medal, but found out years later she had won the bronze after a round of doping disqualifications.

NBA basketball ace Pau Gasol took Rafa's place at the flagpole, and Saúl Craviotto's Peking win got him the closing-ceremony honour.

It was the Olympics that saw Mireia Belmonte become the first Spanish woman in history to earn more than one medal in a single Games (two silvers, in 200-metres butterfly and 800-metres freestyle), David Cal to become the first Spaniard ever to notch up a total of five (he got a silver in the C-1 canoeing 1,000 metres), and three Spanish competitors gain their first medals – slalom kayaker Maialén Chourraut got a bronze, the first of three consecutive Olympic medals (gold in Rio 2016 and silver in Tokyo 2020), triathlete Javier Gómez Noya (silver), and freestyle wrestler Maider Unda (bronze in women's 72 kilos).

The women's synchronised swimmers who gained a silver in Peking took home a bronze from London, as did the women's handball team; golds went to Marina Alabau in women's sailboard sailing, Joël González in men's 58 kilo Taekwondo, and the sailing trio of Támara Echegoyen, Ángela Pumariega and Sofía Toro.

As well as Javier Gómez Noya, David Cal, and Mireia's two, silvers went to Saúl Craviotto in the K-1 canoeing 200 metres; synchronised swimming duo Ona Carbonell and Andrea Fuentes; Brigitte Yagüe in women's 49 kilos Taekwondo; the women's water polo team; the men's basketball team – again with Pau and Marc Gasol on it; and Nicolás García in men's 80-kilos Taekwondo.

The first Olympics in history to be held in Latin America came with Rio 2016, and for Spain, saw female medallists overtaking men, having not even taken part in the Games at all for the first 24 years since their country's début.

Spain netted seven golds – as well as Nadal and López in tennis and Maialén Chourraut in canoeing, Mireia Belmonte won the 200-metres butterfly (and got a bronze in the 400-metres medley), badminton ace Carolina Marín won the women's singles, Saúl Craviotto together with Cristian Toro won the K-2 canoeing 200 metres, Marcus Walz won the K-1 canoeing 1,000 metres, and Ruth Beitia won the high-jump.

Silvers went to the women's basketball team, the women's rhythmic gymnastics team, Eva Calvo in the women's 57 kilos Taekwondo, and athlete Orlando Ortega in the men's 110-metres hurdles.

As well as Mireia's bronze, weightlifter Lydia Valentín earned one, as did Saúl Craviotto in the K-1 canoeing 200 metres, Joël González in the men's 68 kilos Taekwondo, Carlos Coloma in the men's cross-country cycling, and the men's basketball team, this time without Marc Gasol but with his brother Pau playing. 

Rio's and Atlanta's 17, London's and Peking's 19, Athens' 20, and Sydney's 11 are still short of Barcelona's 22, but with seven so far in Tokyo – higher than any of its pre-Barcelona totals - and still a week to go, it's likely Spain will break into double figures soon and will at least equal one of its previous 'away' results.