“Now we have to go to Paris, whatever happens. We have to empathize with him!” With a gleam of joy in his eyes and a smile wider than usual, Teresa Perales sent the reminder to Irene, her physiotherapist. One minute before, and for US Initiativejust posed next to Michael Phelps for a photo. The first they did together. “Good luck in Paris, see you there! It feels amazing to me that you can go to the seventh Olympics!”, hoped the Baltimore Sharks. In the photo there are 55 Olympic and Paralympic medals. He is 28 (23 gold). He, 27 (seven gold). American athletes are the athletes with the most absolute medals at the Olympicsahead of Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina in 18th place. He is Spain’s most successful athlete among Olympic and Paralympic athletes and is fighting to be in Paris next year. To win another medal at the age of 48.

Two different lives, but at the same time two soul mates. The Aragonese, a lifetime of competing and living together to get the best out of disability. Yang from Baltimore, facing his mental demons. The road, the medal. But for both of us, this is not the end. “I thought about killing myself and it was scary. “There is light behind the tunnel and I want to encourage people to fight,” explained Phelps. “Talking about mental health saved my life”he said excitedly at the Wobi Congress in Madrid, where the two gave talks to company executives.

The American began his five-match career in Sydney 2000, when he was just 15 years old. He didn’t win there and that fueled his fire. After Athens 2004, where he won six gold medals and one bronze, depression set in. “I hit rock bottom without talking to anyone. In 2008 I fell into the same spiral. And in 2014 I had another one and I didn’t want to live anymore. I decided to go to a rehabilitation center to move on with my life. There I had the worst 45 days of my life. I felt vulnerable for the first time. I went in with a shield and didn’t talk to anyone. After three days, I let my guard down. Now I can look in the mirror and see a person, not someone wearing a hat and sunglasses. I’m not afraid to say anything anymore. I wish people could fight like me. One in four people have mental health problems, and why won’t they talk? Naomi Osaka, Simones Biles… They speak out and share their journey. And it saves lives.”, The best athlete in history continued his speech.

Perales developed neuropathy when he was 19 years old. Four before that, he lost his father. An example of turning setbacks into success. To also help people with their experiences. “I’m a fidgety person, even though I always sit, and that’s the conclusion,” he joked. “My first coach, Ramiro, when I took off the life jacket my mother bought me when I started swimming when I was 20, he told me: ‘You are a diamond in the rough and need to be polished.’. That phrase changed my life. Others see me as a frustrating project. “The phrase takes you to infinity and beyond.”.

“Disability affects you, but it does not define you. And I decided that my life would be in vain,” he explained. “Sports have helped me change the way people perceive me. “No one looked at me with pity,” he continued. Now, his left arm is affected and he has to change categories. “I swim with only one arm, but I haven’t given up. That doesn’t make sense. I didn’t give up before TokyoDoc, where am I silver even though 15 minutes earlier my shoulder was out again. You should feel proud of yourself. It’s the only thing we can control. Write our own script.”

Teresa only met Phelps last month at another forum in Bogotá, Colombia. However, the greeting was only fleeting and the only photo ended in frustration, being thrown away by her husband and disappearing from the corner of her eye. “I would like to thank Michael because he has been my motivation since 2016, because until then our number of medals was the same, 22. After the Olympics in London, someone wrote the headline: Baltimore Sharks, 22; The Little Mermaid of Ebro, 22to whom I will always be grateful because they know me in my city and that’s it,” he said with amusement.

“They have given me a wonderful gift. “I’m here opening for Michael Phelps, I wouldn’t believe it in my life,” concluded the Aragonese. By his side, the idol. The man who spent seven years training every day without rest, without a single fail, to become the best. And he was amazed by Perales’ resistance. Two heroes. Olympics and Paralympics. And life.

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