As reported by Spanish media “20minutos.es ” Joel assured that in this difficult situation, “The authorities are realizing that things are going wrong. We must compete out of Spain, otherwise it will be impossible to maintain the level”.

Given the instability of athletic scholarships and little support from the sponsors, the Spanish Joel Gonzalez, Olympic gold in London and World Champion twice , opens the door to the possibility of train abroad, with the aim of “becoming the best again” in the 2016 Olympic Games .

“With less money, you cannot compete abroad.  At the end, you have two competitions per year, instead of eight, and that has a negative impact.  Luckily the scholarships will be maintained through 2014, but what will happen after that?   I hope that private companies could give me the sponsorship I need, because otherwise it will be very difficult”, says Gonzalez. “If you train thinking that you cannot reach the end of the month financially solvent, everything gets much more complicated” 

It seems that it happened so long ago, the “amazing” Gold won to the Korean Lee Dae- hoon in the London Olympics that helped him close a series of victories at all levels, after becoming World Champion in Copenhagen 2009 and Gyeongju 2011, and to conquer the European Championships in St. Petersburg 2009 and Manchester 2012.

“The medal I won last year in London has helped me to be more recognized, but there is still a long way, there is still a lot to be done,” he says.  The challenge to hang on his chest one second gold in Rio de Janeiro is “exciting “ but the Spanish is looking to “compete again against the best “in the world, something that today seems complicated.

“It’s very difficult to maintain the high level if you cannot train with the expected quality and it would be disappointing if you miss an important tournament due to lack of economic resources” he says. Despite the little economical and media support received by the minority sports like Taekwondo, he believes that the Authorities of the Spanish sports institutions are beginning to change the strategy: “I think they are realizing that things are going wrong. We must compete abroad because otherwise it will be impossible to maintain the level“.

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