summer olympics - beijing 2008
Felipe and Letizia first greeted the Spanish athletes one by one to personally wish them luck before receiving the coaches, federation presidents and other guests.
07.08.08 - 19:03 -
Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia pose with the Spanish athletes. / AGENCIES
Spain's Crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia gave a pep talk in Beijing today to the almost 300 Spanish athletes competing in the Olympic Games.
"We'll be with you throughout the games, as will all of Spain, and we want you to bring home many medals. Go get 'em!," the prince said effusively to the athletes' applause.
The ceremony, which also served to inaugurate the Casa de España (Spain House) in the Chinese capital, was attended by several Spanish Cabinet ministers, Spanish Olympic Committee President Alejandro Blanco, Princess Pilar, and Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, among others.
Felipe and his wife first greeted the Spanish athletes one by one to personally wish them luck before receiving the coaches, federation presidents and other guests.
"Beyond hoping that you win medals, which we want you to do, I want you to know that just having got to this point is already a victory and that Spain is with you all the way, as is the entire Royal Family," the prince said in his address.
Felipe also said that he understood how much effort it took them to get to Beijing, because he himself was in the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona and recalled with pride how he carried the Spanish flag in the inaugural ceremony. "I know how you feel," he said.
"You're going to excite us," the prince said, linking the large Spanish contingent in the Beijing games to Spain's recent triumph in the Eurocup football tournament, a Spanish cyclist's victory in the Tour de France and the rise of Rafael Nadal to the No. 1 world ranking in tennis.
"We're on a roll and you'll know how to rise to the occasion to give Spain its best possible image," he said.
Felipe expressed his conviction that the Beijing games "will also give us more experience for Madrid's 2016 candidacy," adding that the Spanish capital's hopes of hosting the 2016 games "is on the right track."
