FCBARCELONA.CAT

31.07.2008 11:20

22 Barça reps in Peking

Carles Cascante

The Olympic games, the biggest human sporting event on earth every four years, will have an ample representation of FC Barcelona sportspeople. Peking will have the pleasure of their company from the 8th to the 24th of August.

A total of 22 representatives of FC Barcelona will be present at the Olympic games. Sixteen players and six athletes of six different nationalities –Spain, Australia, Denmark, Croatia, France and Argentina- will represent our club in China. The four disciplines in which we shall be represented are handball, basketball, athletics and football.

Spain, takes the most

The Spanish national basketball, handball and athletics teams are those with most of Barça’s players and athletes. Spain is counting on eight players and five athletes. The players come from the basketball team –Juan Carlos Navarro-, handball – Barrufet, Rocas, Tomás Garabaya, Lozano, García and Romero – and the athletes – Palomeque (3000m steeplechase), Olmedo (800m), Quiñónez (110m hurdles), Aguilar (marathon) and Quintanal (shot-put).

Handball, the discipline with most Barça players

The sport with most representation of FC Barcelona is handball. Of the 22 sportsmen in Peking, 13 will play handball. Barrufet, Rocas, Tomás, Garabaya, Lozano, Juanín García and Romero will defend the colours for Spain, whilst Venio Losert and Jerome Fernández will do so defending the colours of Croatia and France respectively. On the other hand, in handball we can count on the presence of the four Danish players: Jesper Noodesbo, Kasper Vidt and Barça’s new signings for 08/09, Joachim Boldsen and Mikkel Hansen.

Messi

Barça’s striker, pending the decision of the TAS (Sports tribunal), has also been called on to take part in the Olympic games. After travelling to Florence with the team managed by Pep Guardiola (1-3) Messi will travel to China today, where his national teammates have already been training for a few weeks.

Andersen and Milusauskaite

Finally, David Anderson and Sonata Milusauskaite are the two sportsmen who represent two totally different nationalities. The first, a new signing by Xavi Pascual for Barça for the coming season 2008/09, represents the Australian team, despite having a Danish passport, which allows him to play as a European community player. As for the athlete trained by Jordi Llopart, Sonata Milusauskaite, who runs in Barça colours and in China, will do so defending the colours of his national team, Lithuania.