Fernando Manuel Romay Pereiro (born 23 September 1959) is a Spanish retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, who represented his native country in two consecutive

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

, starting in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. At his second Olympic appearance, in 1984, he won the silver medal with the Spain's national basketball team. He is considered to be one of the best players in

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

history, and also one of the best players in Spanish basketball history. He stands around 7 ft tall.

Professional basketball club career

During his club career, Romay won numerous international titles. As a member of

, he won four

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, previously known to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs and the FIBA Club World Cup, is an annual international men's basketball competition organised by FIBA, the sport's global governing body. The competit ...

championships (1976, 1977, 1978, 1981), three FIBA European Super Cup championships (1984, 1988, 1989), two

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

championships (1978, 1980), three

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...

championships (1984, 1989, 1992), and the

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

championship in 1988. With Real Madrid, he also won eight Spanish League championships in total. He won four Spanish LEB Primera División championships (1977, 1979, 1980, 1982), and four

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

championships (1984, 1985, 1986, 1993). He also won five

Spanish Cup The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

titles (1977, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993), and the

Spanish Supercup Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

in 1984. Romay was the Spanish ACB League's all-time leader in blocked shots with 671, until Fran Vázquez surpassed his record on 17 April 2016.

National team basketball career

Romay was a member of the senior Spanish national basketball team. With Spain, he played at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

, and at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, where he won a silver medal. He also represented Spain at the following major

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

tournaments: the 1981 EuroBasket, the

1982 FIBA World Cup The 1982 FIBA World Championship was the 9th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Colombia from 15 to 28 August 1982. Qualification Venues Competin ...

, the

1983 EuroBasket The 1983 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1983, was the 23rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 26 May to 4 June 1983 in France. Italy defeated Spain in the final ...

, where he won a silver medal, at the

1985 EuroBasket The 1985 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1985, was the 24th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 5 to 16 June 1985 in West Germany. The Soviet Union defeated Czec ...

, the

1986 FIBA World Cup The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was held ...

, the 1987 EuroBasket, and the

1990 FIBA World Cup The 1990 FIBA World Championship was the 11th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Argentina from 8 to 19 August 1990. The final phase of the competition was held at th ...

American football playing career

After his retirement from playing professional basketball, in October 1995, Romay became an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player with Madrid Panteras, and on 8 June 1996, he won the Spanish league Bowl. He did not play any minutes in the finals game against the Vilafranca Eagles.

Television career

Romay makes regular appearances on Spanish television on programmes, such as ''Mira Quien Baila!'', which is the Spanish version of

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

Professional basketball club career

National team basketball career

American football playing career

Television career

References

External links