The ceremony was attended by three of the four members of the K4 1,000 meters that won the title of Olympic subchampions in Montreal 76, the Asturian Herminio Menéndez, the Aragonese José María Esteban Celorrio and the Ceutí José Ramón López Diaz@-@ Flower, although he has not been able to do it the Galician Luis Gregorio Ramos Missioné for last-minute problems.

The palist Herminio Menéndez has said today that he is proud of the Pyragüism, that he "follows a magnificent path," and has shown his satisfaction for belonging to a generation. "pioneer", to which the Spanish Olympic Committee has honoured in an act of recognition the participants in the JJOO of Montreal and Innsbruck in 1976, including the Spanish K4 winner of the first of the 16 Olympic medals that currently accumulates Spanish piragüism.

The president of the COE, Alejandro Blanco, and his counterpart of the Superior Council of Sports, José Ramón Lete, as well as the senior officials of the International Federation of Piragüismo, José Perurena, and the Spanish, Juan José Román Mangas, have attended the event held at the auditorium Alfredo Goyeneche in Madrid.

The technical manager of the Spanish selection of pyragüismo in those Games, Eduardo Herrero, and the palists José Seguín and Fernando Henriquez Betancor have also come. On behalf of all the winners, including a wide representation of other sports such as the athletes Mariano Haro, Ramón Cid and Rafael Banquer, Herminio Menéndez has spoken that he has expressed the thanks to those who inculcated the love of sport.

Montreal '76 allowed Spanish pyragüism to register its name for the first time in the Olympic medallion, then added two medals in Moscow 80 (silver in K2 500: Herminio Menéndez and Guillermo del Irego) and one in Los Angeles 84 (C2 500: Narciso Suárez and Enrique Miguez). After an interval of 20 years without podiums the pyragüismo was refound with the two medals in Athens 2004 achieved by the Galician David Cal (gold in C1 1,000 and silver in C1 500) and three in Beijing 2008 (gold K2 500 with Saul Craviotto and Carlos Pérez Rial; two cans of David Cal in C1 500 and C1 1,000). In London 2012 he added three others (Maialen Chourraut gold in K1 in slalon, and two David Cal cans in C1 1,000 and Saul Craviotto in K1 200) and beat records in Rio 2016 with four medals (Maialen Chourraut gold in K1 in slalon, Marcus Cooper Walz in K1 1,000 and Craviotto and Cristian Toro in K2 200, and Craviotto bronze in K1 200).