Pedro Sánchez meets the sportsmen and women who represented Spain at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

At the meeting, in which he was accompanied by the presidents of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco, and the Higher Council for Sports, José Manuel Franco, Pedro Sánchez addressed the athletes to tell them that "the best contribution you can make to society" is "to serve as an inspiration and an example for many young people", who have approached your disciplines in these Olympic Games.

You can "feel gratified, happy and honoured by this", because it is an "enormous fortune to be able to lead and work in what you love", and also feel "comforted because there is a whole country behind you", which has followed you in this important event, Sánchez added.

After referring to the Pyrenees-Barcelona-Zaragoza bid for the Winter Games, which "we hope to bring to our country very soon", Pedro Sánchez concluded by insisting on the importance of "recognising the human dimension and the contribution that sportsmen and women make to society as a whole, above and beyond results and qualifications".

Non official translation