106 Catalan police officers to participate in the World Police and Fire Games in New York

Barcelona (ACN).- Up to 106 members of the Catalan police force Mossos d’Esquadra will participate from August 26th in the 14th Edition of the World Police and Fire Games in New York. The sports event will respectfully coincide with the ten-year remembrance ceremony commemorating the 9/11 attacks in New York. The games are seen in the American city as “an opportunity for all New Yorkers to thank the world for the support that flooded” into the city after September 11, 2001. The Catalan officers will participate in the Games with teams in Athletics, Football, Swimming, Basketball, Cycling, Volleyball, Shooting and Tennis.

The Catalan police are especially good at Swimming, Cycling, Athletics and Basketball, according to a press release from the Mossos d’Esquadra. In the Swimming, police inspector Teresa Laplana, who is currently working in Sant Andreu and has participated in the Games since 1999, has won medals in 50m and 100m backstroke. Officer Ivan Límia won a silver medal in the 3000 m Obstacle Race in Vancouver 2009. Sergeant Carles Lara, who works in Vilafranca del Penedès and specializes in Cycling, has won an impressive total of eight medals during the last two editions of the Games. Police officers and fire-fighters from 70 countries will compete in New York in more than 60 different sports. The Catalan force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, considers this sports event as a good opportunity for officers to meet agents from other countries and “exchanges experiences and knowledge”.