Argentina star Lionel Messi congratulated his compatriot José “Maligno” Torres on winning gold in the BMX Freestyle event at the Paris-2024 Olympics on Wednesday.
“Congratulations star, enjoy the gold” wrote Messi on Instagram, accompanied by a photo of Torres kissing the medal.
The 29-year-old “El Maligno” won Argentina’s first medal in Paris, marking the country’s first gold since the Rio-2016 Games, and became the first South American to win gold in this Olympic discipline.
“It’s crazy what’s happening, I can’t process it and I can’t believe it. I have to go back to the village, sit in silence for a while and look at the medal to understand what’s going on”, Torres told AFP shortly after his victory.
Born in Bolivia, Torres has lived in Argentina’s Córdoba province since he was a child. Last year, he won gold at the Pan-American Games in Santiago and went on to win the X Games 2023, two years after becoming the first Argentine athlete to win a bronze medal at the Extreme Games.