Charlie Smith
SPAIN’S golden boy, Rafael Nadal has capped off a successful 2019 with a Silver Medal from the Guardia Civil.
The tennis star, who this year won his record 12th French Open, was handed the gong for his impressive off-court heroics.
After he married his childhood sweetheart Xisca Perello in October, the 33-year-year-old Mallorquin also found time to help Spain’s youth.
A proud Nadal was pictured accepting his honour in front of top Guardia Civil bosses at a ceremony in his native Mallorca.
It comes after he partnered with Spain’s law enforcement body to promote the Interuniversity League of Challenges in Cyberspace.
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This is the Guardia Civil programme that aims to train up young people on the potential dangers of cyberspace.
The aim of the initiative is to capture the digital skills of the country’s university students and put them to use in a rapidly changing world.
Key areas of the programme include ‘ethical hacking’, ‘digital jurists’, ’communicators’ and ‘economy and business’.
The first hacking event of the ‘Cyberleague’ was won by a group of students from the University of Granada.
Nadal was recognised for his ‘selfless support’ of the project, which coincides with the Guardia Civil’s 175th anniversary.
Guardia Civil chiefs said that Nadal had reached over 200,000 people through his work and made it possible for 1,000 young people to participate in the Cyberleague.
