It’s the World Championship of Friendship!

The World Police & Fire Games is a showcase of athletic abilities, but the participants also enjoy making friends with other first responders from around the globe. Sometimes it makes existing friendships even deeper.

Spaniards Francisco “Fran” Medina Rodríguez and Juan Manuel Marquez have a long history together.  Both were sworn in as officers for the Jerez de la Frontera (Cadiz) Police Service on the same day in 1988. Both enjoyed sports and traveled together to the 2003 WPFG when I was nearby in Barcelona. The experience was an eye opener and neither one has missed a single event since then.

Fran played soccer and won medals in track events through college, and he competed in police pentathlons after becoming a cop. Juan Manuel has a similar history and has remained in track and field events, while Fran has transitioned to mountain and road cycling in recent years due to knee injuries.

“Juan Manuel and I have known each other for almost 40 years, since we participated in athletics as teenagers,” Fran says. “Sports and the WPFG have brought that friendship even closer together and we've shared many interesting and wonderful moments.”

When asked for examples, the 58-year-old recalls how he was called into duty while at the Games in Adelaide, Australia in 2007.  “I was going to the competition arena and had to stop someone who had stolen from a store, and two employees were running after him,” he says. “The Games Directorate sent congratulations to my country and my service.”

His other memory involved someone coming to his aid. “In 2019 in Los Angeles, I got lost on the road on my way to the cyclo-cross event. A 75-year-old American woman accompanied me for almost 40 kilometers so I could get to the competition. She even gave me gas because I had forgotten my wallet at the hotel and had no money!” Fran went on to win five gold and two silver medals in his cycling events, and his success continues.

The two men have created innumerable connections with peers through ten Games, and Fran notes that besides deriving fitness benefits, it’s the spirit of fellowship that keeps them coming back. “For me, they're the World Championships of Friendship!”

By Del Moon