Joel Plata Rodríguez (born 20 March 1998) is a Spanish artistic gymnast. He won the bronze medal on the horizontal bar at the 2022 European Championships. He is also the 2022 Mediterranean Games all-around silver medalist. He represented Spain at the 2020 Summer Olympics and at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
| Joel Plata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_2022.jpg) Plata at the 2022 European Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Joel Plata Rodríguez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 20 March 1998 Barcelona, Catalonia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Madrid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior International Elite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Club Gimnastic Sant Boi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life
editPlata was born on 20 March 1998 in Barcelona. He began gymnastics when he was five years old.[2] Initially, he also did swimming and played football, but he decided to focus fully on gymnastics because it was his favorite.[3]
Career
editPlata competed with the Spanish team that finished sixth at the 2016 Olympic Test Event,[4] meaning they did not qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[5][6] He then competed at the 2016 European Championships with the Spanish team that finished eighth.[7] He competed at the 2017 World Championships and qualified for the all-around final where he finished 24th.[8]
Plata won a bronze medal on the floor exercise at the 2018 Szombathely World Challenge Cup.[9]
Plata was initially the second reserve for the all-around final at the 2019 European Championships,[10] but he was slated to compete after two other athletes withdrew.[11] He ultimately finished 18th in the all-around final.[12]
Plata was scheduled to compete at the 2020 Birmingham World Cup.[13] However, the competition was postponed to 2021 and eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14][15]
Plata finished sixth in the all-around at the 2021 World Championships.[16]
On 16 March 2023, Plata and other members of the Spanish national team were involved in a car accident during a training camp in Anadia, Portugal. The wheel on their van exploded, causing it to roll over multiple times.[17] Plata was the only one ejected from the van because his seatbelt broke, and he was the most severely injured.[18] His injuries included a broken femur that required emergency surgery.[19] He also needed several staples in his elbow and stitches in his eyebrow and lip.[20]
At the 2024 Antalya World Challenge Cup, Plata won the gold medal on the horizontal bar and the silver medal on the floor exercise behind Turkey's Adem Asil.[21][22]
References
edit- ^ "Plata Joel". Tokyo 2020. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Plata Joel". International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Plata Joel". Paris 2024. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "Artistic Gymnastics Men's Team Final Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "Germany, Ukraine, Netherlands and France grab final men's team berths to Rio Olympic Games". International Gymnastics Federation. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ "List of the Men's Artistic Gymnastics 2016 Olympic Qualifiers" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ "32nd European Championships in Men's Artistic Gymnastics Seniors and Juniors Senior Team Final" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "47th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2017 Montréal (CAN) Men's Individual All-Around Final" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 5 October 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "Verniaiev continues comeback at Szombathely World Challenge Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "8th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Men Artistic Gymnastics Qualification All-Around Results" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "8th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Men Artistic Gymnastics All-Around Final" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "8th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Men Artistic Gymnastics All-Around Final" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "Birmingham World Cup roster bursts with World stars". International Gymnastics Federation. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "New dates set for Doha Apparatus World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ "The All-Around World Cup Series is cancelled". International Gymnastics Federation. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ "Newcomer Zhang stuns Olympic champion Hashimoto for World All-Around title". International Gymnastics Federation. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ Amorós, José (16 March 2023). "El equipo nacional de gimnasia artística sufre un accidente de tráfico que ha provocado una lesión grave a Joel Plata" [The national artistic gymnastics team suffers a traffic accident that has caused a serious injury to Joel Plata]. Relevo (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ Pérez, Ismael (18 July 2024). "Joel Plata, el gimnasta más completo de España, un accidente y un milagro para llegar a París 2024: "No podía andar y ya hacía molinos en los aparatos"" [Joel Plata, Spain's most complete gymnast, an accident and a miracle to reach Paris 2024: "I couldn't walk and I was already doing windmills on the apparatus"]. Men's Health (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "Joel Plata, la historia de una recuperación récord tras un accidente que le hizo empezar de cero" [Joel Plata, the story of a record recovery after an accident that made him start from scratch]. LaSexta. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ Amor, Manuel (17 June 2023). "El Joel Plata más sincero publica imágenes de su durísima recuperación: "Esta mierda no me define"" [The most sincere Joel Plata publishes images of his tough recovery: "This shit doesn't define me"]. Relevo (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "Joel Plata, oro en barra y plata en suelo, y Nicolau Mir, oro en paralelas en la Copa del Mundo de Antalya" [Joel Plata, gold on the bar and silver on the floor, and Nicolau Mir, gold on the parallel bars at the World Cup in Antalya]. Marca (in Spanish). 31 March 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "Barbosa, de Jesus dos Santos, Asil make golden impressions as World Challenge Cup season begins". International Gymnastics Federation. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
