Andbank and COA present the delegation that will take part in the European Winter Youth Olympic Festival

Escaldes-Engordany, 07 March 2022.

The Andorran Olympic Committee (COA) has today presented at Andbank’s headquarters the technical team, the skiers, and the equipment that the Andorran delegation will bring to the European Winter Youth Olympic Festival, which will begin on 19 March and will be held in Vuokatti, Finland.

The event was attended by Josep Maria Cabanes of Andbank, the president of COA, Jaume Martí, and the head of mission, Jordi Orteu, as well as the cross-country skiers Gina del Rio and Quim Grioche, and the technician Xabier del Val.
Orteu has confirmed the members of the Andorran delegation that will consist of the 4 skiers Gina del Rio and Quim Grioche in cross-country, Iria Medina and Lluis Torres in alpine, the head of mission, Jordi Orteu, and the technical team with Xabier del Val, Joan Vilella and Josh Alayrach.
Josep M. Cabanes encouraged the athletes to “get the best results, which we know they will try to do.” He also wished to congratulate the skiers who took part in the Olympic Games, the coaches, and the COA for the extraordinary results they achieved. “Andbank is happy to keep supporting the athletes of the country, who have demonstrated, in the last edition of the games, that we have a good team that will continue to achieve great results ”
Jaume Martí stated that “they are very young people and they have not set very specific objectives as it will be an experience for all of them to participate in a competition of this magnitude”.
Jordi Orteu commented that the games should have been held last year, but due to the situation of the pandemic, they were postponed. As far as we know, the slopes in Finland are in good snow and temperature conditions.
Both Gina del Rio and Quim Grioche are hoping for good results, although at the end of the season they always get a little tired. Coach Xabier del Val commented that “it is difficult to set specific goals as they are still very young and what they are aiming for is to be able to improve results”. He also added that if they make the top 20 or 30, they will be very satisfied. On the part of the alpine participants, Lluis Ruiz from the FAE pointed out that the two skiers taking part are the ones who best adapted to the Slalom discipline.