Canary Islands Sports Awards 2025: Youngest Honoree Marta Mansito

The Canary Islands Sports Awards 2025 will recognise Marta Mansito as its youngest honoree. At just fourteen years old, the Tenerife sailor will receive the award in the promising athlete category, following a career that already boasts global, national, and regional titles. She is regarded as one of the great hopes of sailing, a sport that has historically brought significant achievements to athletes from the archipelago.

Mansito will collect her accolade on 3rd October in Tenerife, taking over from Alberto Delgado, the handball player who achieved top marks from the jury in the promise category in the inaugural edition of this gala.

A Historic Achievement in Sailing

The young sailor has made history in the Optimist class, winning the individual world championship in 2024 in the waters of Mar del Plata, Argentina. Alongside the Spanish national team, she secured gold in both the 2024 and 2025 team world championships. This year, she also clinched the Spanish championship in Santander, showcasing her ability to adapt to diverse environmental conditions.

Poli Suárez, the Councillor for Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity, and Sports, emphasised, “Marta is an example of the talent, perseverance, and enthusiasm of our emerging athletes. Her ability to achieve world titles at such a young age reflects the strength of Canary sports and confirms what we have always been: a global powerhouse in nautical disciplines. With athletes like Marta, we have a guaranteed generational shift.”

A Remarkable Talent

Marta Mansito’s journey is outstanding. She began her career at the Real Club Náutico de Tenerife, where she won the under-13 Spanish championship in El Masnou in 2022. In May 2023, she represented the Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria in her first competition at the regional championship, which she won. Since then, her progress has been steady, elevating her to one of the promising figures in both national and international sailing.

After two brilliant seasons in the Optimist class, Mansito is now preparing to embark on a new chapter in the 420 class, a double-handed boat that will require her to adapt to competing in pairs. The sailor expressed her gratitude for receiving this award: “It motivates me for the years to come. I am now starting in the 420 category, which is quite different for me as it shifts from individual competition to partnering with another. I’m honestly very excited because I have trainers who have always supported me, especially Patri, Wichy, and Juan from the Real Club Náutico, and Happy from the national team.”

Memorable World Championship Experiences

Mansito recalls with emotion her first world title in Mar del Plata: “The world championship in Argentina meant a great deal to me, not just because I won, but because I met many people from abroad with whom I still keep in touch. Winning as a team was one of my greatest satisfactions; it was challenging as it required collective effort. We had an amazing team, and winning made me feel great about myself.”

She also noted that winning the female competition was “another significant achievement that I will never forget, especially in a place like Argentina, a country so far away that I absolutely loved.” Mansito reflected on her participation in this year’s World Championship in Slovenia, where she could not defend her individual gold but again rose to the top in the team event. “The preparation was short and quite complicated due to the conditions. I couldn’t win the female category, but we did win the team event, which was a great achievement for me as it was defending our title for the second year.”

Balancing Studies and Sport

Mansito also highlighted the support she has received from her school, Hispano-Inglés, which has provided her with the necessary flexibility to balance her academic life with training and international competitions. She acknowledges that this support has been vital in allowing her to focus on reaching her highest sporting level without neglecting her education.

With an impressive record that already includes world, national, and regional titles, alongside aspirations to compete in the 420 class and potentially join the Spanish team in the upcoming Olympic Games, Marta Mansito is set to receive the Canary Islands Sports Award 2025 as a remarkable promise in the sailing world. Her journey underscores the potential of the archipelago’s emerging talent in nautical sports and positions her as a name to watch in the international arena.