Crowd pays tribute to six-time Olympian Herrera following last match at major international championship

On Saturday afternoon, a full-capacity crowd deserved a standing ovation to a true legend of the sport – Spain’s six-time Olympian Pablo Herrera, who is about to end his competitive career after spending more than two decades touring the world and playing countless matches at the highest level. Herrera and his long-time partner Adrian Gavira, with whom he won EuroBeachVolley gold in 2013, lost a closely fought quarterfinal match to Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava. The Italians joined the Dutch fans in applauding Herrera. 

With the local MC playing a leading role, the very knowledgeable Dutch crowd in The Hague quite naturally stood up to pay tribute to a player that has achieved so much, and yet has always remained incredibly grounded. The now 42-year-old Herrera rose to international fame 20 years ago when he and Javier Bosma claimed silver at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games – the first such feat for a European team since the addition of Beach Volleyball to the Olympic programme in 1996. 

Herrera was hoping to add yet another accolade to his impressive resume, which includes two EuroBeachVolley gold medals with two different partners – Raul Mesa in 2005 and Adrian Gavira in 2013. Pablo had already announced earlier this year that this would be hist last competitive season – yet the moment to finish such a remarkable journey is now about to come. Herrera and Gavira may still compete next week at the Elite 16 stop of the Beach Pro Tour in Hamburg, Germany, but it is very likely that the crowd in The Hague witnessed the ‘last international dance’ for the native of Castellon.  

As the fans acknowledged the moment, an emotional Herrera did so as well, addressing a few words to the fans, and stressing the joy and pure excitement that he has always felt when playing in the Netherlands. Something even more touching happened shortly afterwards after Herrera left the stadium to mingle with fans in the mixed zone. Pablo bumped into an old friend of his – 2012 Olympic champion Jonas Reckermann of Germany and eventually took his shirt off to donate it to one of Jonas’s children, hoping that in a few years the youngster will follow in the footsteps of his illustrious dad. 

Very few players have had such a long and remarkable career as Herrera. Pablo is likely to enjoy his real farewell on domestic soil at a WEVZA zonal event in Castellon scheduled for late September – but it was truly special and somehow spine-tingling to follow his last match at a major international championship where everyone could still see many glimpses of his class, determination, and true competitive spirit.