Basque pelota Cesta Punta professional players in France and Spain. In the United States pelota is mainly a professional sport, strongly tied to betting and the pari-mutuel system. In professional environment is common to play special plays called "quinielas" well adapted to the betting needs. In 1994, the production company Asegarce started painting the courts green so that the ball would be more visible on TV. Professional games are open to betting on the results, as usual in most traditional Basque competitions. In the USA and Macau it is mainly this aspect of the competition that has given it some popularity. Besides
Sport in Spain also served as coach of the national team from 1997 to 2012: during her time in charge the team enjoyed great success, taking four Olympic medals, 26 World Championship medals, and 25 European Championship medals. Other Spanish synchronised swimmers to enjoy success in international competition since the emergence of Mengual include Paola Tirados, Andrea Fuentes, the most decorated swimmer in the history of the Spanish national team, Ona Carbonell and Margalida Crespí. Rhythmic gymnastics is a popular sport through all Spain, so far the most successful individual rhythmic gymnasts are Carolina Pascual who won a silver medal in the individual