Nil Llop

www.facebook.com/nil.llop
twitter.com/nil_82_Llop

Reason for choosing this sport

He began practising roller speed skating at age four as it was a bit of a tradition in his family. He moved on to speed skating after joining a project led by the Spanish Ice Sports Federation.

Ambitions	To compete at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. (isu.org, 20 Feb 2021)
Sporting philosophy / motto	"Success is not given, it is earned. On the track, in the gym, with blood, sweat and occasional tears." (Instagram profile, 27 Nov 2016)
Memorable sporting achievement	Winning a gold medal in the junior category at the 2019 World Roller Games in Barcelona, Spain. (ajuntament.barcelona.cat, 11 Jul 2019)
Other sports	He has represented Spain in roller speed skating, and won silver in the 3000m relay track event at the 2021 European Championships in Canelas, Portugal. He has also competed in short track at junior international level. (fcpatinatge.cat, 22 Apr 2018; mundodeportivo.com, 07 Jan 2016; elprat.digital, 22 Jul 2021)
Famous relatives	His sister Hannah has competed in short track at junior international level. (shorttrackonline.info, 21 Oct 2016)
Hobbies	Travel, spending time with family and friends. (Comite Olimpico Espanol YouTube channel, 09 Sep 2020; Los Llop YouTube channel, 28 Dec 2017)
Injuries	In June 2018 he fractured his fibula, his ankle, one of his fingers, his chin, and his cheekbone after crashing into a tree while trying to avoid a child during roller speed skating training in Spain. He required surgery and was out of action for almost three months. He returned to competition in early 2019. (elconfidencial.com, 15 Jan 2020; mundodeportivo.com, 09 Feb 2019, 17 Jun 2018) He has had surgery on his ankle and his collarbone during his career. (Los Llop YouTube channel, 28 Dec 2017)
Hero / Idol	Dutch speed skaters Kjeld Nuis and Sven Kramer. (as.com, 05 Feb 2020)
Awards and honours	In 2019 he was named Male Sports Hope of the Year by the Catalonian Sports Federation Union [UFEC] in Spain. (ufec.cat, 04 Dec 2019)
Milestones	He became the first Spanish athlete from any sport to claim a medal at the Youth Olympic Winter Games when he won silver in the 500m at the 2020 Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. (SportsDeskOnline, 04 Feb 2021; elconfidencial.com, 15 Jan 2020)
Other information	OVERSEAS TRAINING He regularly trains overseas in order to gain access to better training facilities. He previously spent the northern hemisphere winter months training in Heerenveen, Netherlands, but ahead of the 2021/22 season, he began training in Inzell, Germany. "There is no track in Spain where we can train. And there comes a time where no matter how much work you've done on strength and technique, you need to skate on ice. I opted to go [overseas]. There I found the best in the sport. I arrived with the will to learn and improve. We decided to change the environment [from Netherlands to Germany] to train both on wheels and on the ice. I'm very happy." (isu.org, 20 Feb 2021; as.com, 05 Feb 2020; elconfidencial.com, 15 Jan 2020; ondacero.es, 08 Oct 2021)