The Spanish Federation (RFEA) announced that Jordi Llopart, the first Olympic medalist in the history of national athletics, had died at the age of 68 due to a domestic accident that occurred while he was having lunch, a situation that caused cardiorespiratory arrest and lack of oxygen to the brain. The family later denied that he had died. "He is in a coma and awaiting the transplant service. We feel deeply saddened by the events. We report that Jordi, although in a deep coma, is still alive, admitted to the hospital," they confirmed in a note sent to the EFE Agency.
In a subsequent statement, his brother Moises informed that Jordi Llopart is in an irreversible coma and is being kept alive in order to proceed with the extraction of some organs, as he had established in his testament.
Llopart won silver in the 1980 Moscow 50-kilometer walk, second only to German Hartwig Gauder. He was also the first to get a gold in some Europeans, in Prague 1978 and in the same distance, in which he held the continental record with 3h 44:33. He is considered the pioneer of the discipline in the country. Born in El Prat de Llobregat and eight times champion of Spain of the 50km and once of the 20km, he finished seventh in the 1984 Los Angeles Games and 13th in the 1988 Seoul Games. He left the competition after a fourth position in the 1992 National in Badalona, which left him out of the Olympic team for Barcelona. Raúl Chapado, president of the Federation (RFEA), regretted his loss on social networks before his relatives contradicted him: “A great among the greats of athletics. It lit our way in the dark.
Llopart, who knew six languages, was graduated as a health assistant and graduated in Tourism and studied Graphic Arts. After his retirement he dedicated himself to training walkers, and served as technical secretary of the athletics section of the Barcelona Football Club between 2005 and 2008. He trained Daniel Plaza (gold in Barcelona 92), Jesús Ángel García Bragado (world champion in 1993) , Basilio Labrador, Teresa Linares or the Mexican brothers Isaac and Ever Palma. But the Government of Mexico terminated his contract as an advisor to his team after the 2008-2012 Olympic cycle, and he fell from grace.
He practically lived in misery and the unemployment benefit that he and his second wife, the ex-walker Sonata Milusauskaite, received, with whom he had two other daughters. “Luckily the family helps. Even though I made calls, they all told me the same thing: "This is not a good time." They are 852 euros that enter the house for four people”, he assured in an interview for Public in 2015. After exposing his situation to the media, he received temporary help from the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) through a program for former athletes, as well as others from the Sant Cugat High Performance Center and the Calella Town Hall. During 2015 he collaborated with the nutrition company Bluebonnet and with the Japanese walking team. In addition, in 2011 in Canet de Mar, he created The Walking School.
(Last photos thanks to Koji Hoga Miura - JPN and Sandra Guadalupe Gonzalez, MEX)
Jordi Llopart in a shot together with Maurizio Damilano, Giuseppe Dordoni and a very young Sandra Guadalupe Colin, judge of Mexico