Gervasio Deferr can always boast of being one of the most awarded gymnasts in the history of our country. But it is already known that the career of elite athletes is as short as it is intense. The end for Gervasio came almost a decade ago. Specifically in 2011, when announced his retirement after two Olympic golds and one silver.
Maintaining the rhythm of life afterwards is difficult in most cases. And if not, ask the Catalan, who had to reinvent himself to continue surviving. Now, he is dedicated to train children without resources in the well-known La Mina neighborhood of Barcelona, one of the most humble in Barcelona.
“I spent two very, very bad years after I retired because you go from one day to the next from being an Olympic champion to the next to saying ‘What do I do with my life? Now do I have to work, train or what to do? ‘”, Explained the former gymnast during an interview with ‘The newspaper’.
Deferr poses with Olympic gold in jumping in Athens
And it has continued: “Two years making mistakes and learning every day more from the blows. Disorientated, I needed time to find my place. And now I have found it ”, Deferr has confessed.
However, he firmly believes that every bump in the road helps us grow and in his case showed him what he had to change: “I would happen again. It made me realize that I made a mistake and that I had to change. He showed me who was unconditionally by my side and who was only in the photo when I won “, has narrated.
Arrival in Barcelona after winning gold in Sydney 2000
Despite this, Gervasio is proud to have taken the bull by the horns and now to be able to dedicate himself to what truly makes him happy: “I was 19 and I was a child, I didn’t find out anything and suddenly I was a 23-year-old uncle. I had everything very clear and I went to the Games. Things happen and you have to assume them, not hide of them “, has settled Deferr.