A veteran-class competitor up to the last few years with the Sícoris club, he was the first Leridan to participate in a summer Olympic Games... then also Damian Vindel and Saul Craviotto.

The palist Joaquin Larroya Solano died today in Lleida at the age of 83, after a life linked to the Pyragüism, a sport of which he forms history as a member of the first Spanish team participating in the Olympic Games in Rome 60.

The president of the Spanish Federation of Piragüismo, Pedro Pablo Barrios, has expressed the "huge feeling of regret" the news of the death of one of the "reference" that has had this sport: "It is a sad day for the family of Pyragüism," has recognized Barrios, who has appreciated the "historical contribution" that the legendary figure of Joaquín Larroya has made, which leaves a "legacy marked by the undeniable greatness of the Olympic milestone, to which he adds his link as a practitioner over the years."

Larroya (1937-2021), who in 1974 received the Piragüistic merit plate, participated in the 1960 Olympic Games in which he was semi-finalist in the K1 1,000 meters and K2 1,000, together with Juan Miguel Happy. He who was Olympic in Rome '60 dominated the state-run piragüism competitions in quiet waters during the 1960s and contested several editions of the International Seal Decline. In 1958 he proclaimed the champion of Spain in K1 at 1,000m and 10,000m. He later won the tests of 500m, 1,000m and 10,000m (1960-63,1966,1967), 500m and 10,000m (1964, 1965) and 10,000m (1968). In 1965 he also won the Spanish Pyragüistic Championship and participated in several European Championships, the first of which was in 1957.