Jesús Miguel Rollán Prada (4 April 1968 – 11 March 2006) was a
water polo
Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
from
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 ...
who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
.
Four years earlier, when
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
hosted the Summer Olympics, he was on the squad that captured the silver medal. Born in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, Rollán competed in five
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
, starting in 1988. He is among four Spanish water polo players, all in the 1992 and 1996 medal winning teams, to have competed
at five Olympics, the others being
Manuel Estiarte,
Chiqui Sans and
Chava Gomez. Rollán is the first water polo goalkeeper of either gender to compete at five Olympics.
He was also known as a close friend of
Infanta Cristina
Infanta Cristina (Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la Santísima Trinidad de Borbón y de Grecia, born 13 June 1965) is the younger daughter of King Juan Carlos I and his wife, Queen Sofía. She is sixth in the line of succession to the S ...
, whom he introduced to her future husband
Iñaki Urdangarin.
Rollán died on 11 March 2006 after a fall from a terrace at a spa near Barcelona. He was at the spa receiving treatment for depression. The fees for the spa were being paid for by the Spanish Olympic Committee.
See also
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Spain men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics
*
List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
Only a small fraction of the world's population ever competes at the Olympic Games; an even smaller fraction competes in multiple Games. 950 athletes (648 men and 302 women) have participated in at least five Olympics from 1896 Summer Olympics ...
*
List of players who have appeared in multiple men's Olympic water polo tournaments
*
List of Olympic champions in men's water polo
This is a list of Water polo at the Summer Olympics, Olympic champions in men's water polo since the inaugural official edition in Water polo at the 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900.
Abbreviations
History
Water polo at the Summer Olympics, Men's wat ...
*
List of Olympic medalists in water polo (men)
Men's water polo has been part of the Summer Olympics program since 1900. Hungary men's national water polo team has won sixteen Olympic medals, becoming the most successful country in men's tournament.
There are fifty-nine male athletes who hav ...
*
List of men's Olympic water polo tournament goalkeepers
This is a list of male goalkeepers who have been named in the national water polo team at the Summer Olympics.
Abbreviations
Winning goalkeepers
The following table is pre-sorted by edition of the Olympics (in ascending order), cap number or ...
*
List of world champions in men's water polo
This is a list of Water polo at the World Aquatics Championships, world champions in men's water polo since the inaugural official edition in Water polo at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships – Men's tournament, 1973.
Abbreviations
History
...
*
*
List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
The International Swimming Hall of Fame is a history museum and hall of fame, serving as the central point for the study of the history of swimming in the United States and around the world.
List of the members of the International Swimming Hall ...
References
External links
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1968 births
2006 suicides
2006 deaths
Water polo players from Madrid
Spanish male water polo players
Water polo goalkeepers
Water polo players at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Water polo players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Water polo players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Water polo players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Water polo players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for Spain in water polo
Olympic silver medalists for Spain in water polo
World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo
European Water Polo Championship medalists
Suicides by jumping in Spain
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Expatriate water polo players
20th-century Spanish sportsmen
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