Olympian admits bronze medal finish matches his League rank
Pau Echaniz, a slalom canoeist competing at the Olympics for Spain, revealed in an interview after winning a bronze medal that he is also “stuck” in bronze in League of Legends.
The 23-year-oldathleteplaced third in the solo slalom event at theOlympic Gameson August 1 and revealed afterward that he lost two ranked matches of League of Legends before his run.
In an interview with Spanish sports journalist and streamGerard Romero, Echaniz said he isn’t the best at the game and has watched professional matches.
“I’m bronze in LoL and bronze in the Olympic Games. I’m stuck, I can’t get out of it,” he saidvia a machine translation.
The Echaniz’s interview also reached his professed League of Legends idol, Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos,who called him“the best Olympic medalist in history.”
The Olympian said he used to watch Ibai when the streamer was a commentator for the Spanish LoL league, LVP SuperLiga.
No me monto en una piragüa hasta que suba a orohttps://t.co/YvoGLWElM4pic.twitter.com/NCNu7EtOD0
On August 5, the bronze medal winnerposted a photoof his competition prize next to a gaming laptop queued for a League of Legends game with another player, presumably in France. In the post, he said he wanted to hit gold rank before getting back into a canoe again.
United States Olympic star Noah Lyles, who is not shy about hislove of nerd cultureandcompetitive gaming, responded to the post saying he’s also ready to queue up a League game soon.
“This bout to be me after the 4x100m,” he said.
League of Legends is rumored to be an Olympic event in 2025, as the International Olympic Committeecreated the Olympic Esports Games in July.
Over the past week, the 2024 Olympic Games has been an exciting tournament, with stories outside of athletics, like thedrama of the USA gymnastics team, andteams referencing animealso dominating headlines.
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