Everything was too small for Paula Leitón. That has turned the Spanish water polo player – Olympic gold in Paris – into an XXL person. The title of his book, XXL: From Olympic gold to the fight against fatphobia, It fits perfectly with his ambition for life and for the sport he practices.
She is a giant in the pool who has much more to say than that phrase that He has “a very broad back” so that hurtful comments can “slide” about his physique spilled into networks after his sporting success. His fight in this regard is to raise awareness about fatphobia, something he claims in these pages.
A Platform Editorial book fruit of that gold and also of what came after, a situation that led her to “become empowered” and take “the reins of those comments” to give birth to this “wonderful” work, he says in an interview on Mediodía on RNE.
Gold changed everything
Leitón still has a hard time assimilating the 2024 Olympic gold and is excited when he remembers it. “I get goosebumps when I remember that unique and special moment,” he says after listening to the story of that feat.
His life changed completely with that medal and also because of what happened afterward. The insults on networks came at the best moment of his professional life and the certainty that I could take advantage of that to transform it into something positive for those who suffer from it crystallized in this personal and professional diary.
World Cup and Los Angeles 2028
Despite everything that happened, Paula assures that for her The Paris medal is “a little piece of memory” that they got then. “I love sharing it with everyone because I always say that it is not just mine, not only I have achieved it, but it belongs to the teammates who were with me, those who stayed along the way, those who started doing water polo and everyone who has been around me to help me and push me.
After Paris, Leitón’s main objective looks to Los Angeles 2028, a perfect platform to ensure the defense of gold. “In the short term I want to win the world cupis the first step: to be champions and have an Olympic place and the peace of mind of being able to prepare for a year,” she says on public radio.
Beyond sport: politics?
When asked if politics tempts him, he is surprised, but does not close the door, although he confesses that he looks more towards teaching. “Well, I had never thought about it, but who knows where the future is going to hold me,” he confesses.
“Once my sports career is over, Yes, it is true that I would love to dedicate myself to the world of teaching.which is what I am studying, and to be able to help from that path and from the values that sport has transmitted to me to those who are my future students, but I don’t rule it out. “Who knows, maybe one day Paula Leitón will appear on TV because she has become a politician?” he says.
Giving up and succeeding go hand in hand
In XXL, Paula Leitón says that entering competition at such a young age – she started when she was 11 – leads you to miss things like birthdays or family gatherings. Elite sport marks and demands a lot, RNE recognizes, but it also has its rewards.
“You end up putting it on a scale, right? And what you are passionate about always weighs more, which is the sport and the hours you invest, but really When you look back it is true that it compensates because the successes come“he explains.
Miki Oca and a pending conversation
Along this path, the Olympic champion has a thorn in her that – surely – is shared by her teammates on the Spanish water polo team. It is the departure of Miki Oca from the national team as soon as they are crowned Olympic champions in 2024.
She does not know his motives, and has not spoken to him. In the interview he admits that he hopes to be able to do it in the World Cup. “In the end he went to China, we are still here in Spain, we have not had the opportunity to meet, since the only thing we have had this year has been European, but I understand that in Australia we will cross paths,” he says.
He adds that he hopes by then “to be able to exchange some words with him.” “Maybe, who knows, he will explain to us why he left after the Games or the decision at the end is legal and everyone wants new challenges,” he concludes.
