José Alberto Recuero
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Alberto Recuero García | ||||||||||||
| Nationality |
 Spain | ||||||||||||
| Born |
3 May 1974 Barcelona, Spain | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 74 kg (163 lb) | ||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | ||||||||||||
| Style | Greco-Roman | ||||||||||||
| Club | Club Lucha Baron Viver | ||||||||||||
| Coach | Bernardo Martínez | ||||||||||||
Medal record
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José Alberto Recuero García (born May 3, 1974 in Barcelona) is a retired amateur Spanish Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's middleweight category.[1] He represented his nation Spain in two editions of the Olympic Games (1992 and 2004), and later capped his sporting career with a bronze medal in the 74-kg division at the 2005 Mediterranean Games in Almería. Before his retirement from wrestling in 2006, Recuero trained full-time for Baron Viver Wrestling Club (Spanish: Club Lucha Baron Viver) in his native Barcelona under his coach Bernardo Martínez.
Recuero made his official debut, as an 18-year-old teen and a member of the host nation's wrestling team, at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where he competed in the men's welterweight category (74 kg). In the prelim pool, Recuero received a bye on the opening round, before losing out two straight matches each to Austria's Anton Marchl (3–1) and Yugoslavia's Željko Trajković (3–0).[2]
Twelve years after his last Olympics, Recuero qualified for his second Spanish squad, as a 30-year-old veteran, in the men's 74 kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Earlier in the process, he finished fourth at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan to guarantee his spot on the returning Spanish wrestling team after a 12-year hiatus.[3][4] He lost his opening match 2–3 in overtime to Kazakhstan's Danil Khalimov, but bounced back to pin Georgian-born Israeli wrestler Yasha Manasherov within a three-minute span to close the prelim pool. Finishing second in the pool and ninth overall, Recuero's performance fell short to put him further into the quarterfinals.[5][6]
When Spain hosted the 2005 Mediterranean Games in Almería, Sanchez ended his career medal drought by picking up a bronze medal in the 74-kg division, much to the delight of the home crowd inside Huércal de Almería Sports Hall.[7][8]
References
- ↑ "José Alberto Recuero". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ↑ "Barcelona 1992: Wrestling – Men's Greco-Roman 74kg" (PDF). Barcelona 1992. LA84 Foundation. p. 453. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
- ↑ Abbott, Gary (22 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 74 kg/163 lbs. in men's Greco-Roman". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ↑ "Recuero y Sánchez buscarán como mínimo diploma olímpico en Atenas" [Recuero and Sánchez will seek at least a single Olympic medal in Athens] (in Spanish). La Nación. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ↑ "Wrestling: Men's Greco-Roman 74kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
- ↑ "Alberto Recuero García pierde en su primer combate" [Alberto Recuero García lost his first bout] (in Spanish). Spanish Olympic Committee. 25 August 2004. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ↑ "Rafa Martínez y la gimnasia iluminan a España" [Rafael Martínez illuminates Spain in gymnastics] (in Spanish). El Mundo (Spain). 27 June 2005. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ↑ Frías, Manuel (28 June 2005). "La gimnasia, con seis medallas, tres de oro, salvó la jornada para España" [With three out of six gold medals, the gymnasts saved the day for Spain] (in Spanish). ABC.es. Retrieved 9 July 2014.