Four athletes to represent Andorra at the Summer EYOF

Escaldes-Engordany 16 July 2023.

A total of four athletes in two disciplines (swimming and athletics) will represent Andorra at the Summer European Youth Olympics Festival to be held between 21st and 29th July in the town of Maribor (Slovenia). There will be four Andorrans competing, two in swimming and two in athletics. Biel Cuen and Arnau Segarra will compete in the swimming pool while the sisters Duna and Alba Viñals will do so on the track.

The press conference to present the athletes was held in Andbank’s Assembly Hall and chaired by the institution’s Director of Domestic Banking, María Suárez. The event was attended by Alain Cabanes, the Secretary of State for Sport, Josep Antoni Guerra, the Secretary General of the COA, and Jordi Orteu, the Head of Mission, as well as two of the swimmers, Cuen and Segarra. Duna and Alba were both travelling, as they took part in the Spanish U18s competition last weekend.

Cabanes recalled that “this competition will bring together the best future Olympic champions and help them to get a feel of their level”. Moreover, the Secretary of State, a former judoka, reminded the attendees that “in 1989 I took part in one of the first events held here, in Andorra, and it was a great experience”. As for Orteu, he recalled that “we only send athletes who we think can finish in the top half in terms of their results. Those who go have to earn the chance to take part.

María Suárez, the Director of Domestic Banking, praised the good work carried out by the Andorran Olympic Committee and the different federations, placing particular emphasis on the grassroots work “to enable us to have more and more athletes competing on the international stage”.

The swimmers haven’t set themselves any challenges beyond that of improving the personal bests with which they’ll arrive in Maribor, given that what they’re aiming to do it lower their times and gain more experience while competing in major games from which they emerge as Olympic champions.