LEGACY
An Olympic
dream
"After four Olympic Games, the most beautiful thing about my sports career has been to SHARE with the people I love the good and the not so good. Thank you all for pushing the sled.”
Ander Mirambell
181
International Races
representing Spain
2
North American Championships
1
North American Runner-up
14
International Medals
(8 Golds, 1 Silver, and 5 Bronzes)
1º
First Spanish Champion in
Skeleton history
Olympic Games
Beijing 2022
The dream of the Beijing 2022 Olympics was an almost impossible mission. The number of participants was reduced from thirty to twenty-five. Even so, Ander managed to qualify in the last race of the Saint Moritz World Cup, setting the historic record for top speed on the circuit with 139.9 km/h. A milestone that demonstrates the level of piloting achieved by the athlete in one of his best seasons, where he also achieved the runner-up position in the America's Cup, scoring in one less race than his rivals. This closed a cycle of Olympic competition with 92 World Cup races, more than 180 international races, 2 America's Cups, 8 victories... After the Beijing Olympics, the athlete's helmet became part of the Olympic Committee museum in Lausanne for all that Ander represents for this sport.
Spanish flag bearer
At the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Ander Mirambell was chosen as the Spanish delegation's flag bearer. Being a flag bearer for an Olympic team was a great honor and significant responsibility for Mirambell. His selection made him a symbol for the team and the entire nation, representing the Olympic values of excellence, friendship, and respect.
Mirambell had represented Spain in four Winter Olympic Games before being chosen as the flag bearer, making this selection a recognition of his achievements and dedication in the sport of skeleton. This was a very special moment in his sports career and he will always remember it fondly.
Ander Mirambell's historic moment as the flag bearer for the Spanish delegation at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China, is a reminder that sports can unite people and transcend borders. Mirambell hopes that his achievement will inspire other athletes and the next generation of sportspeople to pursue their dreams and work hard to achieve them.
Read news from El Confidencial "The great story of Ander Mirambell: "If I were American, they would have already made two movies about me"
Olympic Games
Pyeonchang 2018
It seemed impossible for him to reach these Olympic Games when injuries strongly affected him. He competed in 2015/2016 with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, and it was a miracle that he won the overall title of the 2016 Copa America. The Olympics were special because he knew how to overcome material problems. He also experienced the toughest moment of his career when his mother was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of the 2017/2018 season. He turned that misfortune into motivation and managed to share Olympic runs with her and his family. It was the best moment of his sporting career, but his mother passed away two months later.
Olympic Games
Vancouver 2010
The Olympic dream became a reality in February 2010, after several visits to the operating room, a significant personal financial investment, but above all the achievement of a dream he had since he was a child, shared with the people who have accompanied him on his many adventures. He wrote a book called "Breaking the Ice" which explains his adventures to reach Vancouver 2010.
Ander Mirambell
retires from skeleton (2022)
Former pioneer of skeleton in Spain, Ander Mirambell announced his retirement as a pilot in 2022 to begin a new stage as a coach and sports director of the Spanish Ice Sports Federation. After fourteen seasons in the sport, in which he participated in four Olympic Games and eleven World Championships, the 39-year-old Catalan hung up his sled and helmet to focus on new professional challenges.
"I don't feel this moment as a farewell, but as an opportunity to thank everyone's effort in achieving these results. I feel like the runner who crosses the finish line and embraces his family, who is waiting for him. I would have loved to say goodbye at the World Championships in St. Moritz, my favorite circuit, but my personal future and that of skeleton in Spain require me to leave the sled aside,"
"I especially thank Bernat Buscà, my physical trainer for always and much more than a friend; the professionals at CAR Sant Cugat; my coaches, Ueli, Mickey, Martin Rettl, and Richard Bromley; all my rivals and teammates over the years, who have been my family for many months every season; the different professionals of the IBSF; the institutions that have allowed skeleton to be where it is (REFDH, CSD, and COE); and my friends and communication managers, Alberto Montenegro and Cristian Mestres. But above all, my family, without whom none of this would have been possible,"
Read the news at RTVE "Ander Mirambell hangs up his sled: the pioneer of skeleton in Spain retires"
What now?
The legacy of Ander Mirambell
