Luis Felipe ARETA SAMPERIZ

One of Spain’s greatest long and triple jumpers, Luis Felipe Areta embarked on a new journey after the end his athletic career, when he became an ordained priest.

Brought up in the Basque region of San Sebastian, he thought about joining the priesthood when he was 11 or 12, but soon dispelled the idea because he enjoyed playing sport too much. He played beach football, and later basketball with the Atlético San Sebastián club. He was hoping to go to the European School Games (FISEC) with the local basketball team, but was invited to have a try at the triple jump for the newly formed athletics section of the club, and the first time he jumped, he broke the junior record of his region, and went to the Games as one the track and field squad instead of basketball, and came home with a gold medal.

Shortly after the Games, when still only 16, he was invited to move to Madrid to continue his education, and train for the 1960 Roma Olympics. In 1959, when he was 17, and the day after he broke the Spanish long jump record, Areta applied to join the Spanish religious organisation Opus Dei as a Numerary. However, he also continued his athletic career, and with great success.

Areta made 57 international appearances for his country, a then record for a male Basque athlete. He won five Spanish Junior titles 1960-62, before going on to win 13 senior jumping titles between 1959-71. He also won four National Indoor titles 1966-71 although the indoor championships did not start until 1965, six years after Areta had started his competitive career.

Between 1959-68 Areta set 21 national triple jump records and five long jump records. In the former he increased the record by nearly two metres, and was the first Spaniard over 15 and 16 metres. He was also a good sprinter, and set a Basque record of 10.6 for the 100 metres, and was also a very good decathlete.

On the international stage, Areta won the long and triple jump gold medals at the 1963 Mediterranean Games, and in 1967 retained his triple jump title. He won a triple jump bronze at the Summer Universiade at Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1963, and the following year, finished a commendable sixth behind the surprise gold medallist Lynn Davies at the Tokyo Olympics.

Areta gave up competitive athletics in 1972 to concentrate on his theological studies, and on 15 August 1980 was ordained a priest with Opus Dei.

Personal Bests: LJ – 7.77 (1963); TJ – 16.47i (1968).