From May 29 to 31, the European obstacle course racing (OCR) championship was held in Irun. The event took place at the Larreaundi soccer field. The atmosphere in the Basque town of Irun was tense. The Basque police Ertzaintza had just showed it manners by beating up the Basque Sumud Flotilla activists at the Loiu airport on their way back home, amidst uproar generated by of the Palestinian genocide. Still Israel—which is not an Europe team—was participating in the competition. On May 28, a group of Basque runners protested both Israel’s participation and the fact that they were prevented from wearing the jersey of the Basque national team.
At present, OCR is not an internationally recognized sport, but rather a discipline within the pentathlon. Participants in the event are not affiliated with any federation. The organizers of this OCR tournament include OCRA, a private Spanish entity, as well as the European league coordinator FISO and the local club Denontzat Irun. Therefore, it is not an official initiative. European national teams have participated in the competition, but the Basque Country has been expressly denied participation. Still the City Council of Irun granted an allowance of 70,000 euros to the Spanish organization.
The organizers have prevented Basque runners from wearing the Basque national team jersey, which was provided free of charge by the Basque team association. In fact, it was mandatory to wear the Spanish jersey, both at the start and at the finish line. This put several Basque participants in a bind, leading them to discuss strategies to get around this requirement. Many contestants don’t even know each other; each had to figure out for themselves what to do and possible ways to avoid the organization’s requirement. And to make matters even worse, throughout the entire duration of the contest, the presence of Basque language was virtually nonexistent, and the little that was used was almost apologetic. That has been the treatment accorded to the native and official language of the Basque Autonomous Community.
The Basque team requested permission to race in Basque jerseys, to no avail. For many runners, the threat of disqualification had the desired effect, forcing them de facto to wear the Spanish jersey. Purchase of the Spanish jersey to the organizers was mandatory, costing an average of 60 euros. Some decided to start the race and discard their jerseys along the way; some enjoyed the race without receiving any recognition, while a few even ran into trouble. Those without Spanish jerseys were disqualified at the finish line. In the Irun competition, in order to participate in competitive events, these runners went through qualifying rounds, qualifying and, in some cases, paying a sum of up to 500 euros to register.
Fifty years after Franco’s death, we Basques remain almost underground when it comes to international representation in sports, denied in our own country, suffering a colonial situation. And all of this comes in the midst of the World Football Cup, when we Basques have to put up with the relentless advertising for the Spanish national team echoed everywhere in the media, while deprived of our own national team.
Note. It is worth noting that in March 2026, Marko Usabiaga, an athlete from Donostia and European champion in a previous OCR competition, refused to compete with the Spanish national team in this year’s Irun championship. Usabiaga explained that he did not want to represent Spain. The courageous stance of this Basque athlete, who has stood firm in his refusal despite threats from Spanish officials, is to be commended. The anti-Basque tone of the Irun championship has provided further justification for Usabiaga’s decision.
