Image Credit: World Rowing
How do you define greatness? A mind-bending feat that surpasses expectation and rationality? A moment of authentic surprise that inverts the weight of pressing odds? Or perhaps an incision in the linear unfurling of your heart?
In sport, we are quick to anoint greatness upon each other. A performance that impresses us is often bestowed the virtue of greatness before it can even truly be understood. It is easy to attach brilliance onto bravery and boldness but sometimes the two should not be conflated. True greatness should combine mastery, magnanimity and more than a hint of magic.
The Olympic Games is our ultimate magic show. A procession of truly elite talent, operating at the pinnacle of their sport and thrust forward into a limelight fostered by four years of relative translucency. These two weeks are stitched into the very fabric of competition, dating back to the lore of Ancient Greece, and have transcended the politics of modern society to become the ultimate marker in sporting excellence. To win Olympic Gold gives you immortality of a rare and timeless specification – your story will be perpetuated forevermore, carried forward by the whispers of generations to come, who too aim to climb those sacred steps and join this club of champions. Emerging over the horizon, this time in the blue and red hue of palatial Paris, we are ready for the very fastest in rowing to be crowned.
Step forward, my friends – The Olympic Games have come.
The Stats
Country
Spain
Crew Names
Jaime Canalejo Pazos
Javier Garcia Ordonez
Average Age
32 years
Olympic Record
Sixth in the M2- at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games (Pazos & Ordonez)
2024 Competitive Record
World Rowing Cup 1: N/A
World Rowing Cup 2: 2nd (M2-)
World Rowing Cup 3: N/A
European Championships: 7th (M2-)
The Profile
Jaime Canalejo Pazos and Javier Garcia Ordonez have been two of Spain’s most successful oarsmen for over a decade. They raced together in the coxless four throughout the Rio Olympiad but just missed out on qualification. They formed their pairs partnership at the start of the 2018 season, reaching the A-Final at the world championships. Their breakthrough year came in 2019, winning a bronze medal at the European championships and the opening World Rowing Cup before placing fifth at the world championships. 2021 saw them take another bronze at the opening World Rowing Cup before making the A-Final at the Tokyo Olympics. 2022 saw them regularly making the A-Final, taking silver at the opening World Rowing Cup and bronze at the Europeans before producing Spain’s best men’s sweep world championship result in 33 years with a silver medal at the world championships. They slipped back a little in 2023, winning the B-Final in Belgrade but showed good speed at the Lucerne 2024 World Rowing Cup by winning silver behind the British.
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