Fran Orive was born in Barbate, lives in Jerez, and works for Iberia, where he has been a handling agent since 2003, and for the past four years has worked in a number of administrative capacities –coordination, traffic agent, operations– at Jerez airport. On June 30, he competed in the Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt, where he became a star. Would you like to know why?
“I've spent the whole year carefully preparing to complete an Ironman triathlon competition for the first time in my liefe, and I chose Frankfurt. I was one of 3,500 participants from 55 countries.
The heat was almost the hardest thing about the race –40 C– even though I have been trained to run under the sun when I'm coordinating flights by Iberia and other airlines at Jerez airport. I stopped at all the refreshment points to shower, eat, and drink, in order to be able to complete the race, which was very long. I wanted to finish and to enjoy myself, without the pressure of being a professional.
When I had about two kilometres left to run in the marathon, I saw a woman about to collapse, and it looked like nobody was going to help her. Without thinking twice, I ran to her and held her up while I called for the health services. When they arrived, I rejoined the race.
I finished the swimming, cycling, and running races, a total of 226 km., in 12 hours and 15 minutes, coming in 19th in my category amongst the Spaniards taking part.
When I returned to Spain, I began to receive text and Whatsapp messages and calls from the media. It turned out that the woman I helped, Sarah True from the United States, was then leading the race in her category, and had just one kilometre to go to finish seven minutes ahead of her nearest rival.
I told everyone the same thing: I was there to enjoy the race, and I didn't care at all whether I finished ten minutes sooner or ten minutes later. At the Barbate football school and in my family, I was taught that you have to help your companions, whether they're on your team or the other team.
What I did was normal. It's become news, but I'm not a hero. A hero for helping someone? But I am proud and grateful for people's reactions.”
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
