Joaquin Blume

Joaquín Blume Carreras (Barcelona, June 21, 1933 - Huerta del Marquesado, Cuenca, April 29, 1959) was a Spanish gymnast who competed in the discipline of artistic gymnastics.

Biography

He was born in Barcelona, the son of a gym teacher of German origin, Armando Blume Schmädecke, and Mari Paz Carreras. He emigrated to Germany with his family during the Spanish Civil War. There he spent the first years of his life. When he finished the fight in Spain, he returned to Barcelona.

Upon his return to Barcelona, Joaquín enrolled in the German School of Sports Gymnastics, where his father taught classes, and later in the gym owned by his father on Padua street. It didn't take long for him to reveal himself as a gymnast of exceptional quality.

In 1949 he was proclaimed absolute champion of Spain, a title he held for ten consecutive years. He made his debut at the Helsinki Olympic Games in 1952 and was ranked 56. He was only 19 years old. His progression began to be unstoppable: he was ranked 44th in the 1954 World Cup in Rome, and a year later, in the European Cup, he was tenth. In 1956 he started among the favorites for the Melbourne Games, but Spain refused to attend as a protest against the presence of the USSR, which had invaded Hungary. Blume then thought of becoming a German national to be able to participate in the competition, but Juan Antonio Samaranch, then delegate in Catalonia of the National Delegation of Physical Education and Sports, convinced him not to do so. A year later, at the European Championships held in Paris (at that time the European Championships had worldwide value, given the dominance of the Eastern bloc countries), Blume won the individual all-around competition, in addition to three apparatus: parallel, horse and rings. In this last discipline he reached such perfection in the execution of the Christ (consisting of remaining static with his arms in the form of a cross), that Blume has gone down in history as his inventor, although in reality he was not.

He died in 1959, when the plane in which he was traveling suffered an accident between the municipalities of Beamud and Valdemeca, towns located in the Serranía de Cuenca mountain range, although the remains are located in Valdemeca. In addition to Blume, his wife, María José Bonet, and the other members of the Spanish team also died. Iberia Flight 42, a DC-3, crashed without leaving any survivors. The restored DC-3 on display at the Malaga Aviation Museum bears the registration EC-ABC, which corresponds to the flight in which Blume lost his life. His body and that of his wife rest in the Montjuic Cemetery.

Legacy

Joaquim Blume, de Nicolau Ortiz, Jardines de Joan Brossa, Barcelona.

After his disappearance, Spanish artistic gymnastics did not have any outstanding representative until the appearance of Jesús Carballo (two-time high bar world champion), Rafael Martínez (who in 2005, forty-eight years after Blume's great triumph, managed to new gold medal in a all-around event at the European Championships) and three-time Olympic medalist Gervasio Deferr.

In 1960 the Joaquín Blume Trophy was created, initially awarded to the most outstanding Spanish athlete under 22 years of age, and since 1983, awarded to the most distinguished educational center in the promotion and development of sport. It is delivered annually as part of the National Sports Awards.

Since 1969, a competition has been held annually in Barcelona, the Joaquín Blume Memorial, and two residences, one in Madrid and the other in Barcelona, the IES Joaquín Blume institute in Esplugas de Llobregat or the Joaquín Blume Athletics club in Segovia bear their name. The Joaquín Blume Public School in Torrejón de Ardoz also bears his name, located on the street of the same name next to the sports center also named the same. In Sabadell there is also a public school named after him, CEIP Joaquim Blume. In Alhaurín de la Torre, Málaga, the first soccer field in the town and the avenue where it is located also bear his name. In Alicante, Móstoles, Puente Genil, Llinás del Vallés, Oviedo (Asturias), Granada and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, there are streets that bear his name.

For a few years and always on the last weekend of April, the Huerta del Marquesado, a nearby town in the Serranía, commemorates Joaquín Blume. The event is called Marcha Blume and consists of the ascent from the same town of Huerta del Marquesado to the summit where the plane fell in the municipality of Valdemeca. At the exact point there is a stone cross with the names of all those who died in the accident and on its pedestal a representative of the town council is in charge of placing flowers. The summit is the highest point in the province and is curiously called "Collado Bajo", with spectacular views of the entire Serranía de Cuenca. The day, in addition to honoring the gymnast, is a day of coexistence between residents and visitors. After the March and ascent, there are always activities, a craft market, lunch and dinner all together, etc. More and more people are signing up for the event, which grows year after year and has established itself in the calendar of activities throughout the province of Cuenca.

Awards, recognitions and distinctions

• Victor de Plata Award, delivered by the Spanish University Union (1954)
• Luis de Arana Cup to the best Spanish sportsman in the international arena, delivered by the National Sports Delegation (1956)
• Gold Medal to the Sports Merit, delivered by the National Delegation of Physical Education and Sports (1959). In a posthumous title, delivered during her funeral to her father by José Antonio Elola-Olaso.
• Trofeo Mohamed Taher Pacha to the best amateur sportsman in the world, delivered by the International Olympic Committee (1959). Posthumously.
• Pedro Ybarra Cup to the best sports record, delivered by the National Delegation of Physical Education and Sports (1959). Posthumously.