José María Olazábal, renowned professional golfer with dozens of victories to his name -with special mention for the Augusta Masters in 1994 and 1999-, member of the Golf Hall of Fame since 2009, captain of the European team in the 2012 Ryder Cup and 2013 Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, has declined, due to physical problems, to accept the captaincy of the Spanish golf team that the Royal Spanish Golf Federation had offered him for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
In a personal statement, José María Olazábal states that “in relation to the proposal of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation for me, José María Olazábal, to be captain of the team representing Spanish golf at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, and having reached the date to make a decision on the matter, I would like to say that I decline the proposal for personal reasons.
At the moment I do not feel that I have the courage and strength to take on this task due to my physical problems. I believe that when the time comes, this could be a handicap when it comes to carrying out this task, and that would be the last thing I would wish for the team.
I wish all the best to the members of the team, players, captain and coaching staff, and I hope they can win a medal, and if it is a gold one, all the better.
Yours faithfully, José María Olazábal”.
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