Olympic athletes interviewed Episode 26: Rubén López ‘Don't settle for the minimum effort.’

Olympian 2012 Rubén López, outlines his long journey to qualify for the Olympic games. How he learned to work hard and persevere through the example of his parents. Why he values missing out on important moments due to injury is more severe than not qualifying through performance and how he learned to be patient and stay positive.

In this interview Ruben shares

-       The origins of his nickname ‘Chino’

-       His worst moment

-       His best moment

-       What advice would he give his younger self

-       What are the habits, that make him a successful athlete or person

-       His morning routine

-       How to prepare for important moments

-       How to overcome setbacks

-       His role model

-       The best advice he has received

-       How does a typical training day look

-       Whom he nominates to be interviewed

-       Where can you find Ruben Lopez

Intro: This interview features Rubén López, a Spanish gymnast who participated in the London Olympic Games 2012, and who missed the Rio Olympics due to injury

[The original interview was done in Spanish. Rubén asked me to do the interview in Spanish, below you will read the English translation of the interview.]

His nickname ‘Chino’

Christian: Rubén, the nickname “Chino”, where does it come from?

Rubén: When I started to practice gymnastics, I was in the same Club as Gervasio Deferr -  the most famous gymnast, and the one with the greatest results in Spanish gymnastics history. When I was a kid I had small eyes (Asian look) and since he did not know me and didn't know my name, he started calling me: "Chino, come here!" or "Chino this thing!" "Chino that!" and of course since he was so well known in the world of gymnastics, everyone who was listening to him, and started calling me by the same nickname. So until today, everyone calls me Chino, and nobody calls me Rubén.

Rubén’s darkest moment

Christian: In your career as an athlete, what was the hardest moment? 

Rubén: For me, there have been two hard moments that I remember, and these were the most severe sports injuries I've had during my career. The first one was a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee, and that was in the year 2010, at one month of out the World Championships. Everything went well, and it was going to be my first world championship as a senior category athlete, the absolute category.

Everything went well, and it was going to be my first world championship as a senior category athlete, and a month prior, I fell badly in an exit out of the rings.

And a month prior, in one of the internal qualifying competitions, that we made here, in this room, I fell badly in an exit out of the rings. At that moment I noticed that I badly injured myself. The tests of that day showed that I ruptured the cruciate ligament and part of the meniscus, which for me was a very hard, because I was prepared very well and everything seemed that I was going to be in the team, competing in the World Championships and suddenly you hit a wall and fall, you know? What seemed as you have reached the maximum for what you had worked for, for so many years, suddenly plummeted by an injury that stops you completely.

What seemed as you have reached the maximum for what you had worked for, for so many years, suddenly stops completely.

Rubén’s best moment

Christian: What was the best moment of your career?

Rubén: For me, the best moment was at the London 2012 Olympics. Because when you start in any sport, at first you may not think about it, but when you see that you are acquiring a good level and you realize, that maybe, you can become the elite athlete, it is when you start to think that you want to be in the Olympic Games, because it is the greatest thing an athlete can hope for. So I remember that feeling, being there in the Olympic Village, together with the best athletes from around the world and you feel part of that group.

I remember that feeling, being there in the Olympic Village, together with the best athletes from around the world and you feel part of that group.

To say “I'm here is because I'm just as good as them and I'm among the best in the world.” is just great. It's like so much work, so many hours of training, for so many years, it's worth it just to live those moments, the power to be living with great athletes such as Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt or other names of famous athletes and the fact of going to a stadium to compete that is full to the top can’t be described.

It's like so much work, so many hours of training, for so many years, it's worth it, just to live these moments.

His advice to a younger Rubén López

Christian: What advice would you give to yourself? If you could go back in time  10 years or 15 years, what would you say to yourself?

Rubén: The first thing I would say is to have patience. Because sometimes we hope that things will happen on a certain date, but for certain circumstances, they do not happen on that date, they happen 10 days later or a month later or a year later. So we have to be patient with that.

Sometimes we hope that things will happen on a certain date, but for certain circumstances, they do not happen on that date, so we have to be patient with that.

Above all is to focus on the process of self-forgetting about what friends can tell you, family, your coach or whoever, those are expectations that other people have about you, you must have your own expectations and know where do you want to get, those two important things. You have to work hard, be hardworking every day, and don’t settle for the minimum effort.

Focus on the process of self-forgetting, have your own expectations, work hard, be hardworking every day, and don’t settle for the minimum effort.

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