Jordi Xammar Hernández and Nicolás Rodríguez García-Paz have entered the history of Spanish Olympic sailing after winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the men’s 470. An Olympic promise hungry for compensation and a dentist in the process have given fruit to a triumphant union that celebrates having fulfilled a dream on the podium and even having dreamed of higher heights.
But Jordi Xammar’s impulse followed in the wake of a path he had started since he was 6 years old, when he began competing in Optimist class regattas and ruled out the possibility of emulating the path of his father, the professional motorcycling pilot Pedro Xammar. This experience turned out to be the beginning of a great promise that crowned his first championship in Spain at 14, just before starting a strong union with Herp at the age of 15.
At the time of parting their paths, a call gave the definitive turn to the course of Spanish sailing in this class. At 22 years old, Jordi Xammar’s insistence ended up finding him on the road with a Nico Rodríguez whose mentality followed paths very distant from those of high-level competition.
One call changed history
Who would end up becoming a bronze couple received the proposal when he was in the Netherlands, learning the country’s language to take a job offer and practice his training profession: dentist. The Galician, trained at the Vigo Nautical Club, found himself in a great dilemma that forced him to choose between his two passions. The decision was complex, and it was that he had finally found a job in which to develop a job for which he had studied five years at the University of Santiago de Compostela. In fact, several Spanish patients came to be treated by the now Olympic medalist.
However, his idea was changed by the Olympic dream that would await five years later and that would give him the prize for his great sacrifice. Just a few days after taking the plane to a new life abroad, Rodríguez was returning to Spain before signing his contract to enroll in a new training program that gave almost immediate results.
Only a few months after starting work, the duo set out on their way to Tokyo with a bronze in the European Championship. This metal would not be a mere coincidence, and it is that in the following years the successes of a duo that reached Japanese waters accumulated with a total of three continental medals behind them and another three world medals. The third place in Tokyo 2020, however, will keep an indelible memory in a record that still promises many joys to national sailing.
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