Basques at the Olympic Games
The Basque Country, as such, has never taken part in the Olympic Games of the Modern Era, of which nineteen editions have been held since their reinstatement in Athens in 1896. However, as might be expected, a relatively significant number of Basque athletes – estimated at around two hundred – have competed in these major events over the course of this almost entire century since the birth of modern Olympism. In the vast majority of cases, they did so under the Spanish flag and, more exceptionally, under the French banner, with also a few isolated cases of Basque-American athletes.
A quick look at the records of the different Games might lead to some confusion if one relied only on the apparent Basque surnames of two Olympic champions from very different eras: Juan Carlos Zabala, an Argentinian who won the marathon at the Games of the 10th Olympiad, held in Los Angeles in 1932, and again at the 18th, fifty-two years later; and more recently Alberto Juantorena, the Cuban hero of Montreal (1976), winner of both the 400 and 800 metres, whose dark complexion belied any other association. To consider them part of Basque sport would be an extravagant form of chauvinism. The true reality of Basque Olympism – if such an expression can be used – is far more modest. No Basque athlete has ever reached that coveted pinnacle, except in pelota, which was a demonstration sport in Paris (1924) and Mexico City (1968), and is expected to be so again in Barcelona in 1992.
Fifteen have won silver medals, thirteen of them as members of the legendary Spanish team at Antwerp (1920), who became runners-up, a subject we will expand on shortly. The other two medals were won at the Los Angeles Games (1984): the Guipuzcoan Luis Mari Lasurtegui in rowing, and the Biscayan Juan Manuel López Iturriaga in basketball. Three others won bronze medals as members of the Spanish hockey team in Rome (1960): Luis Mari Usoz, Rafael Eguskiza and Perico Murua. Likewise, a coxed pair, all three from the Labourdin club Aviron Bayonnais, took third place in the 1,600-metre event at the Hellenic Pan-Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1906.
Also notable in this initial overview are the fourth places achieved by tennis player Manuel Alonso (Antwerp, 1920), and by the aforementioned Lasurtegui and López Iturriaga in Moscow, one Olympiad before winning their respective silver medals. Fifth places were also recorded in Moscow by handball players José María Pagoaga, Jesús María Albisu, Juan José Uría and Ignacio Novoa. In athletics, the “king sport” of the Games, the best result was achieved by Luis Felipe Areta of San Sebastián, who came sixth in the long jump at Tokyo (1964), earning the very first Olympic diploma in Spanish athletics. Worth mentioning too is Ignacio Sola’s ninth place in Mexico City (1968) in the pole vault, both for the result itself and for the anecdote it provided: the Bilbao vaulter was the first in the final to clear 5.20 metres, which allowed him, albeit for only half an hour, to hold the Olympic record in his event.
Basque women have had few opportunities to take part in Olympic competitions. Yet it was precisely a female athlete, Maite Zúñiga, who with her seventh place in the 800 metres final in Seoul (1988, the most recent Games held), achieved the best result in Basque athletics since Areta, with an Olympic diploma included.
As stated at the outset, Euskal Herria as such has never had its own standing in the international Olympic movement. Nonetheless, even under French or Spanish colours, up to five crews in history have been fully Basque, all of them in rowing. These included the aforementioned Aviron Bayonnais team of six oarsmen at the Hellenic Pan-Olympic Games (Athens, 1906), who secured the outstanding position already mentioned; the eight-oared outrigger of the Société Nautique de Bayonne at Stockholm (1912), which marked the true Olympic debut of Basque athletes; the Spanish football team in Amsterdam (1928); the eight from the San Sebastián club Ur-Kirolak in Rome (1960); and finally the double scull of José Luis Korta and José Ramón Oyarzábal, winners of the petite final in Moscow (1980), equivalent to seventh place.
The largest Basque contingent was in Paris (1924) with thirty-five athletes, although twenty-one of them competed in rugby and pelota, both demonstration sports, which somewhat artificially inflated the total. In Amsterdam, without this factor, there were twenty-six. The smallest representation was at Los Angeles (1932), with only one athlete, Clément Duhour, a shot putter in the French team, as Spain did not take part in those first Californian Games. Athletes Diego Ordóñez and Luis Felipe Areta, together with footballer Pedro Vallana and handball player Juan José Uría, share the record for Basque participation, with three Olympiads each. In athletics, the largest Basque group was in Paris (1924), with eight competitors.
There was no Basque representation at the first four Games (Athens, 1896; Paris, 1900; St. Louis, 1904; London, 1908), although there was at the edly cited Hellenic Pan-Olympic Games (Athens, 1906). Later, for various reasons, there was also none in Berlin (1936), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956).
We conclude this global overview with a brief reference to the Winter Olympic Games. The only Basque presence was at the most recent edition held to date, Calgary (Canada, 1988). Ainhoa Ibarra, from Gernika, had no choice but to embody, in the strictest sense, the old Olympic motto: “the important thing is to take part.”
From this point onwards, we shall go through the Olympiads one by one, examining Basque performances in greater detail.