Features
Anna Godoy
“Going to the Games is a dream for all athletes”
Anna Godoy has followed the family tradition and will finally reach the summit in Tokyo
Your beginnings in the triathlon go back 13 years now...
I started at 16. I swam from a very young age, competing at the Club Natació Barcelona. After making some podiums the time came to decide. And I tried triathlon, because my dad had been a professional and my brother was too, and as a family we would occasionally go out on bikes on the weekends and watch it at home. The first aquathlons went well and I won a scholarship . I finished secondary school and was able to combine training with studies. That’s where it all started.
You must be proud being the first in the family to reach an Olympics...
The dream for all athletes is to take part in an Olympic Games. My father couldn’t because the triathlon was not an Olympic sport then, and my brother was part of the best generation of triathletes in Spain, so I’m participating on behalf of them, because thanks to them I am in this sport. I’ve been training with this goal for many years. It’s a reward for all the effort and a source of pride because only two of us qualified from Spain.
How did you train during the lockdown?
At first we didn’t know if the Games would be cancelled but we had to keep training as much as we could at home. Then, when they were suspended, I decided with my coach to slow down a bit. I didn’t have a physiotherapist, which you need, and I could’ve got hurt if I’d kept training to the maximum. I kept fit by training as much as I could, doing swimming exercises almost every day. And riding the bike for an hour to an hour and a half. Luckily, the federation brought a running machine to my home. I ran three days a week, an hour at most. I was scared of injuring myself.
How did you feel when the Games were postponed?
It was a disappointment, but only for a day. I thought that if they didn’t hold them, I’d try to go to the next ones, in Paris 2024. So I took it easy and continued to train.
How was the transition to training outside, despite the restrictions?
It was a bit strange, because although elite athletes could train at any time in Barcelona, I tried to go out at the hours allowed for everyone to avoid having to give explanations. If you went out of Barcelona by bike at a time when people weren’t allowed out, you would get questions. To run, I went up to the Les Aigües main road and it was different because there were no people, only the police, who I had to show my documents to. In the end , they knew who I was. As for swimming, the pools were closed, but luckily I could go in the sea. All in all, I was able to train without too many problems.
Daughter of ‘The Shark’
This 28-year-old triathlete from Barcelona grew up surrounded by triathletes, led by her father, Paco Godoy, a pioneer of the sport, known as The Shark. Like Anna, her brother Francesc has represented Spain on numerous occasions. She was born in 1992, the year of the Barcelona Olympics... with that background, her destiny was written.
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