Carlos Gil Pérez (28 January 1931 – 25 December 2009) was a Spanish

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

coach. From 1979 to 1988, he was Spain's top national coach, serving as the technical director of the

Royal Spanish Athletics Federation The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Real Federación Española de Atletismo'', RFEA), is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in Spain. As of 2023, the federation has 1,323 registered cl ...

(RFEA). He has been called one of the "fathers of Spanish athletics".

Life

Pérez was born in

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on 28 January 1931. From 1979 to 1988, he held the position of technical director of the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA). Under his leadership, Spanish athletics achieved its first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

medals at the

Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

in 1980 and in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1984. At the

1982 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 1982 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at Palasport di San Siro in Milan, a city in Italy, on 6 and 7 March 1982.Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Spain achieved one of its great milestones by winning five medals. Three years later, in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Spain rose to the highest category of continental athletics. Pérez also made significant contributions in sports administration. Within the RFEA, he revamped the technical infrastructure by introducing experienced coaches, thereby fostering sport development. Additionally, he played a pivotal role in initiating athlete support programs, including the creation of ADO scholarships. These scholarships provided financial assistance, offering 80,000 pesetas over four years to athletes with the potential to excel in Olympic Games and top-level championships. Returning to his hometown, Perez coached the first Salamanca-born national champion in any sport in 1958; under his guidance, José Luis Albarrán claimed the title of Spanish champion in the 200 meters at the old

Anoeta Stadium Anoeta Stadium (), currently known as the Reale Arena for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain that was inaugurated in 1993. The stadium lies at the Anoeta Sports Complex, and is mostly used for ...

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

. In Salamanca, he trained dozens of athletes under his guidance from 1955 to 2009, with notable mentions including his five Olympic athletes: José Luis Albarrán, José Luis Sánchez Paraíso, Rosa Colorado, Antonio Sánchez, and Frutos Feo. They also achieved numerous Spanish records. In 1968, he received a Silver Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit in Salamanca from

Juan Antonio Samaranch Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquess of Samaranch ( Catalan: ''Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló'', ; 17 July 1920 – 21 April 2010) was a Spanish sports administrator under the Franco regime (1973–1977) who served as the seventh ...

. In 2007, he received the Silver Medal again from

King Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until his abdication on 19 June 2014. In Sp ...

. In 2010, he received the Gold Medal posthumously. Pérez was frequently seen at the

Helmántico Stadium ''Estadio Helmántico'' (English: Helmántico Stadium) is a football stadium in Salamanca, Spain where UD Salamanca played home matches, and is the home stadium of Salamanca CF UDS. The stadium holds 17,341 and was built in 1970. It is located ...

in Salamanca, coaching athletes even at over 70 years old. In his later years, he worked with athletes like Adrián Ingelmo, Ángel García, Saturnino González, David Berrocal, Pedro Ceballos, and Elvis González, among others. Perez died on 25 December 2009 in

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

Sexual misconduct allegations

On 7 May 2024, a 57-year-old former

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

er, under a pseudonym, claimed that Pérez sexually abused him when he was 17 years old. Three other people came forth with similar allegations published in the newspaper ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

''.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Carlos Gil Spanish sports executives and administrators Athletics in Spain 1931 births 2009 deaths Spanish sports coaches