Paralympic athlete Óscar Salguero awarded Fundación Iberdrola grant
Paralympic athlete Óscar Salguero, medical student at the UAB and silver medalist at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, was awarded one of the ten Fundación Iberdrola grants under the ADOP programme for athletes studying at university.
"I have learned from elite sports that you must be very perseverant and consistent to reach your goal; you have to work hard to cross the finish line. And that has helped me in my studies"
UAB medical student and Paralympic silver medalist in swimming Óscar Salguero was one of the ten Paralympic athletes to be able to continue their university studies in the 2022/23 academic year thanks to one of the Iberdrola Spain Foundation grants, which were awarded on 13 January at the headquarters of the Higher Sports Council in Madrid. The ADOP Plan (Support for Paralympic Sport) is an initiative of the Higher Sports Council, the Ministry for Social Rights and Agenda 2030, the Ministry for Finance, and the Spanish Paralympic Committee, which aims to provide Spanish Paralympic athletes with the best possible conditions to be able to carry out their preparation.
At the award ceremony, on behalf of all the scholarship winners, UAB student Óscar Salguero spoke, thanking the Iberdrola Foundation on behalf of all of this year's beneficiaries. As he explained, combining studies with high-performance sport requires a lot of "effort, perseverance, sacrifice and dedication". "Since I started my studies, I have been very aware of the importance of a good preparation to ensure a future after sport. I was awarded the grant from the beginning and it has helped me a lot to achieve my greatest dream, my great hope, which is to become a doctor," he admitted.
The sports career of a fighter
At the age of 18, Óscar Salguero Galisteo (Sabadell, 1998) had already won a gold medal in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the 100 metre breaststroke category. Member of the CN Sabadell swim club, Óscar Salguero also won a silver medal in the 2020 Summer Paralympics held in Tokyo in 2021. At that moment he had already spent nine years competing.
Behind the winner of two Olympic medals is the effort and struggles of an elite athlete in his fifth year of Medicine at the UAB Parc Taulí Teaching Centre in Sabadell, with the hopes of becoming a good family doctor (speciality he is interested in) in the future. His trainers highlight his «humbleness» and his eagerness to train and swim.
Óscar trians at the High Performance Centre (CAR) in Sant Cugat, where he spends five hours a day training, split between mornings and afternoons. "I dedicate more or less the same amount of hours to my studies, or maybe a bit more, in the morning and in the afternoon", he explains. The flexibility of his training sessions are key to allowing him to study at the same time: "My trainer adapts my hours to the classes and exams that I have, in order to let me do everything".
"I enjoy everything that I do. I spend a lot of hours on swimming and on studying. I think I made the right decision. I have learned from elite sports that you must be very perseverant and consistent to reach your goal; you have to work hard to cross the finish line. And that has helped me in my studies. There are tough moments, in sports and in my studies, but most importantly, I like what I do", he affims, while he sets his new goal on the next 2024 Paralympics Games in Paris.
In addition to Salguero, grants were awarded to swimmers Sarai Gascón, José Antonio Marí and Alejandro Rojas; athletes Desirée Vila, Iván Cano, Alba García and Nagore Folgado, wheelchair tennis player Martín de la Puente and judoka Marta Arce.