Joaquín Blanco Albalat is a competitive sailor from Spain who competes in the men’s Laser class. He is a former Olympian who took part in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and set his sights on his second Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. One of the world’s best sailors, he reached number 11 in the World Rankings in September 2017 and finished in 8th position at both the 2019 Hempel World Cup Series in Genoa, Italy and the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series in Miami, USA.

Born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, Blanco is the son of Olympic sailor Joaquín Blanco Roca, a former Olympic sailor who finished 4th in Finn at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Blanco began sailing when he was seven years old and started racing at the age of 9. Blanco’s talent for the sport was evident from the start, becoming the European Chamption of Optimist in 2001 and World Champion of Laser 4.7 four years later in 2005. In May 2016 he finished strongly at the Laser Standard Men’s World Championship in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico on the road to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and took the last position on the Spanish sailing team. Since Rio he has won several medals at different levels, including first place at the XVIII Mediterranean Games Tarragona in 2018.

Blanco sails for Real Club Nautico GC located in Gran Canaria, Spain and is now training intensively for his second Olympic Games.