María Pérez: “I don't think I'm better than anyone else, but I don't get the attention I deserve.”

Reader, I have my doubts but I think I'm right.

If today María Pérez (29) appeared on Las Ramblas or Avenida Diagonal, walking distractedly, would you notice her presence?

The reflection is legitimate and uncomfortable, because in reality very few Spanish athletes, very few celebrities, have achieved as many accomplishments as she has.

I'll justify this thought: with her two world golds in Tokyo 2025 (35 km and 20 km walk; and to these are added the two from Budapest 2023), María Pérez would be, on her own, the seventh country in the medal table.

I'm thinking about all this when I enter the interview tent at the foot of Japan's National Stadium and contemplate the Granadan walker sitting there, waiting for me, head down, two gold medals around her neck, fiddling with her cell phone: thus I understand the immensity of a slight lady, 156 centimeters tall, with short hair and a deep gaze, as deep as her Granadan accent.

This is the story of a girl like any other who played soccer as a child, played with Esther González, when she received a visitor at school. Pepe, the teacher, had invited his friend Paquillo Fernández, a legendary Granada race walker, and along with Paquillo, Jacinto Antón and Montse Pastor, the coaches, showed up. Together, they watched that tiny girl, María Pérez, march, and said to themselves: "We have to recruit her."

-Blessed coincidences of life - María Pérez tells me (she blesses everything).

-You're not doing anything, you're not being too big for anyone.

"I don't think I'm better than anyone else. I'm just a person who marches. I treat everyone as an equal."

-That dignifies her.

-I'm still the girl who came from a town (Orce) and treats everyone equally and says things when she doesn't like them and takes them in good faith.

-But do you feel appreciated by people in the media and society? Do you have the popularity you deserve, given your successes?

I don't think I'm a person who likes fame, Nadal-style fame. I like to fly under the radar. But I don't get the attention I deserve for everything I've achieved.

-Your great friend, Antonella Palmisano, insists that you and Mondo Duplantis are the best athletes in the world today.

"I laugh because, for me, she's the best. On the eve of my second title here (20 km), I sent Antonella a message telling her that the little girl who dreamed of going to the Olympics had come to Tokyo 2020, to her first Games, to walk away with a chocolate medal (fourth place) while she (Palmisano) took home the gold. That's where my dream of being an Olympic champion began. That's why, for me, she's the best."

Did your dream of Olympic gold really begin that day?

"Well, I already had it before. But when you beat someone who's already an Olympic champion (like in the 35km race these days, where Pérez won gold and Palmisano silver), you ask yourself: why not you?"

-And is it your debt?

-It is, Olympic gold.

-Okay, you have a debt. But did you think you'd one day win four world titles?

"No, man. I think there's someone up there with a magic wand and they're touching us with it. I want to think that, because I've been told so many things lately that I don't know what to think anymore."

-When all this is over, in six months, where will you find motivation?

-In Los Angeles 2028. It will be the third city to host three major Games, and I will be there (along with Tokyo and Paris).

"I think there's someone up there with a magic wand and they're touching us with it. I want to think that, because I've been told so many things lately that I don't know what to think anymore." María Pérez Athlete

-Numbers: In the 35km, you opened up a good three minutes on the second-place finisher. A week later, on the eve of the 20km, did you think you had to win?

I knew I could do it, but I didn't know how I'd feel. I'd never run a 35km race before, and I was struggling to recover due to acute groin pain. There were unknowns, but this is sport, a blessed madness that, with my suffering, makes so many people happy.

-What can you do to have more presence?

"I think I've already done it. But we race walkers don't get the same exposure as other events with better television time slots, like sprinters. I got up at 3:30 in the morning to compete at 7:30. I'm not complaining, it's what it is. But in Spain it was 12:30 at night, and there aren't as many people watching at that time. What we've done is show that race walking is attractive enough; look at how we fought until the last few meters. What do you think?"

-I don't know what to answer.

The problem is that in our society, men's football sells more. If you tell me you'll show women's football, I'll buy it. But since men's football is always talked about, we still live in a sexist society in the 21st century.

In our society, only men's soccer sells. We still live in a sexist society in the 21st century. María Pérez Athlete

-Do you suffer from training on a daily basis?

-There are days when I suffer, which are the ones I love the most. When I don't, I don't love them as much.

-Do you enjoy suffering?

-I like to push myself to the limit.

-The pain?

-The fast series, like when I go with the hook, like when I compete.

-And the long runs?

-I don't like them that much.

-How much is a long run?

-30 kilometers maximum. The last one was in Font Romeu, weeks before I came.

-You're going to Font Romeu, to Livigno with Palmisano, and also to Granada. Is your group big?

-He is, he's growing, and I like it. When María Pérez leaves, I want my coach to continue being successful.

(Jacinto Antón, their coach, tells me that the group in Granada has about fifteen marchers: the Chamosa brothers, Dani and Antía, and José Manuel Pérez Rubio, and recently Pablo González has joined; all of them are international players.)

-There's a long way to go before your retirement, isn't there?

-I don't know what I'll do. I'm not afraid.

-Where would it be directed?

-I studied teaching. I'd like to stay involved in sports, but I'm restless and I like to learn about everything.