Pau Echaniz, a slalom canoeist competing at the Olympics for Spain, revealed in an interview after winning a bronze medal that he is also “stuck” in bronze in League of Legends.
The 23-year-old athlete placed third in the solo slalom event at the Olympic Games on August 1 and revealed afterward that he lost two ranked matches of League of Legends before his run.
In an interview with Spanish sports journalist and stream Gerard Romero, Echaniz said he isn’t the best at the game and has watched professional matches.
“I’m bronze in LoL and bronze in the Olympic Games. I’m stuck, I can’t get out of it,” he said via a machine translation.
The Echaniz’s interview also reached his professed League of Legends idol, Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos, who called him “the best Olympic medalist in history.”
The Olympian said he used to watch Ibai when the streamer was a commentator for the Spanish LoL league, LVP SuperLiga.
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No me monto en una piragüa hasta que suba a oro https://t.co/YvoGLWElM4 pic.twitter.com/NCNu7EtOD0
— Pau Echaniz (@pauerangerr) August 5, 2024
On August 5, the bronze medal winner posted a photo of his competition prize next to a gaming laptop queued for a League of Legends game with another player, presumably in France. In the post, he said he wanted to hit gold rank before getting back into a canoe again.
United States Olympic star Noah Lyles, who is not shy about his love of nerd culture and competitive gaming, responded to the post saying he’s also ready to queue up a League game soon.
“This bout to be me after the 4x100m,” he said.
League of Legends is rumored to be an Olympic event in 2025, as the International Olympic Committee created the Olympic Esports Games in July.
Over the past week, the 2024 Olympic Games has been an exciting tournament, with stories outside of athletics, like the drama of the USA gymnastics team, and teams referencing anime also dominating headlines.
