If it were seven, why not think of eight... Santiago Lange announced that he will start a new campaign towards Paris 2024, which will be his eighth consecutive Games.

Gold medalist in Rio 2016 along with Cecilia Carranza, with whom he was the Olympic flag bearer in Tokyo 2020, this time he will do it with a new partner: Victoria Travascio will accompany him aboard the Nacra 17.

Having turned 60 years old in December, Lange now has three Olympic medals. The first two were bronzes alongside Carlos Camau Espínola, in the Tornado class, in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. Then came that special gold, 11 months after having undergone lung cancer surgery. After finishing in seventh place in the last Games, there will be a change of partner but the same objective.

"I realized that I love doing this, racing, I still enjoy it very much. So why stop? A new challenge begins, which I know is very complicated but also beautiful," said Lange, who started training last Tuesday. Although before Tokyo he had assured that he would take a year off before thinking about preparing for a Games, the truth is that just a few months of break were enough. Of course, unlike other times, this Olympic cycle will be shorter.

"It was a long evaluation process. I learned a lot from the result in Tokyo, and I also know that in all the years we shared with Ceci Carranza, we achieved an impressive level of excellence. With that very clear, ahead of us are things to be written, knowing that the path to win a medal is difficult."

His new partner already has experience in Olympic competitions. Hailing from La Plata and turning 33 years old in July, Victoria Travascio comes from winning the gold medal alongside María Sol Branz in 49er FX at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and the bronze in Lima 2019. In Rio 2016 she finished 13th and in Tokyo she achieved a remarkable 5th place.

"We are starting a preparation in which we must get to know each other as a duo, learn to work together in the boat, and gain experience to grow. It fills us with enthusiasm." The eighth Games are coming for him. No one dares to say it will be the last.