Thrilling Spanish Championships - Spanish Team for Paris announced

Jerez de la Frontera, SpainThe 83rd edition of the Spanish Championships witnessed some brilliant performances throughout the last weekend (2-3 August). The competition was held under very tough weather conditions, changeable wind and the thermometer marking 45º. The temperature rose to such an extent that the video-finish machine broke down during the women’s 100m final and it was necessary to resort to hand-timing in that event.

The reigning European 400m silver medallist David Canal entered this championships with a season’s best of 45.60 quite far from his PB of 45.04 and there was some talk about his clash with Salvador Rodríguez, fresh from a 45.95 clocking. But, drawn in lane 5, Canal went out quickest and by halfway he had already built a comfortable gap over the rest and Cayetano Cornet’s 14-year-old Spanish record of 44.96 was once again in jeopardy. Canal continued to run strongly and finished in a PB of 45.01 to be an overwhelming winner as Rodríguez came second one full second adrift Canal in 46.19.

“I’m especially happy with my run and my result as I have been running between 45.60 and 45.80 all the season and it made me uneasy; I needed to regain confidence and motivation and this 45.01 clocking is an enormous boost thinking of Paris” detailed Canal who, still 24, has already six national titles under his belt. “If I’m capable of running this kind of time at the Worlds I’ll make the final and running 44.70 there anything can happen”, concluded Canal.

The men’s Steeplechase featured no less than five under 8:20men aiming for the three coveted spots to the Worlds. It was José Luis Blanco (PB of 8:15.02) who made most of the running reaching 1000m in 2:43.48. By then, the European champion Antonio Jiménez had dropped from the leading group and left the race before the 2000m point which was passed in 5:33.14 (2:49.66 for the second km.) with Blanco still at the top and Eliseo Martín and the Spanish record holder Luis Miguel Martín in close attendance.

 At the bell  Eliseo Martín stepped up the pace gradually and with 200m to go it became clear that he would be the eventual gold medallist, the winning time being 8:15.22. Blanco was runner-up in 8:16.93 and Luis Miguel Martín clocked 8:18.02 for third in his first steeplechase outing of the season since he underwent surgery on his left tendon following his bronze medal at the Europeans in Munich.

Eliseo Martín said: “I felt extremely comfortable throughout the race and I was confident of winning. I had a good winter even competing at the Cross Country Worlds and it has played  a key role in today’s success. I’ll next run at the AEA meeting in San Sebastian this coming Sunday and I would like to lower my PB of 8:13.59 which dates back  to 1999.” Asked about his chances of bettering in Paris his sixth place from Seville’99 Worlds Martín declared: “It seems that this year there are no sub 8:00.00 performances and it could be easier to threaten the Kenyan armada”.

Another exciting contest took place in the men’s 1500m, always a star event at the Spanish nationals. On paper the reigning European silver medallist Reyes Estévez seemed to be the strongest athlete after his 3:32.86 performance at the IAAF Golden League meeting held in Rome some three weeks ago: his 2003 outdoor debut over the distance. In addition Estévez showed impressive form in the semi-finals unleashing a devastating kick with 300m to go. 

European indoor record holder Andrés Díaz set the early pace in the final leading through 400m in 1:01.96 and 800m in 2:03.63. At precisely the 1000m point Díaz himself (PB of 3:31.48/2000) tried to pull away from the group but to no avail. Shortly afterwards the 1200 mark Estévez pulled clear and entering the final bend he had opened a 10m gap over European Cup winner Juan Carlos Higuero who skilfully overtook Díaz before the bend running on the inside.

 It was with 120m remaining that Higuero realised that Estévez might be within range as he had narrowed the gap and finally managed to speed up sufficiently in the home straight to hold off Estévez for a handsome victory in 3:39.71, his last 300m taking 38.30 seconds. A disappointed Estévez was even caught in the last 5 metres by his training mate and this year’s  World 1500m indoor leader Roberto Parra, clocking 3:40.10 and 3:40.19 respectively.

On the women’s side the most outstanding performance was signed by Ruth Beitia in the High Jump. The 24-year-old Spaniard had made a big improvement the week before by clearing 2.00 for the first time (previous best of 1.96) at a low-key competition in Spain. Boosted by this achievement Beitia had here first time clearances at 1.78, 1.83, 1.87, 1.91, 1.93 and 1.95, the latter height also cleared  by the defending champion Marta Mendía at her second try for a new PB.

Mendía’s success over 1.95 meant that she would join Beitia in the Spanish team for Paris. Afterwards, Beitia needed three jumps to get over 1.97 while Mendía failed all her attempts. Beitia, now confirmed as the winner, also had three unsuccessful tries at 2.01.

Some of the Spanish big hopes for the 9 th IAAF World Championships to be staged in Paris (23-31 August) took comfortable wins. For instance, the reigning World Shot Put indoor champion Manuel Martínez won his tenth title with a 20.55 put and another  four 20m plus efforts, his complete series being: 20.23 – 20.47 – 20.55 –  20.22 – foul – 20.24. Long jumper Yago Lamela also was an undisputed winner at 8.06 and produced a consistent set of jumps beyond the 8m barrier: 8.02 – x – 7.80 – 8.06 – 8.03 – 8.03 with legal wind in every case.

Francisco Fernández, who set a 20 km. Walk world best last year with a 1:17:22 clocking had no real challenge from the rest of the field which included other world class walkers. The 26-year-old European champion clinched the title in 1:24:10, 46 seconds clear of David Márquez who placed fifth at the last Worlds in Edmonton. The champion declared: “For me this event has been like a tough training session; I had planned to walk in the leading group for the first half and then pull away if possible; and I did so. Under these extreme weather conditions, the time was not remarkable; everything will be different in Paris, weather, rivals, pace...”

The big surprise of the weekend came in the women’s 100m Hurdles as the European champion Glory Alozie was defeated by Aliuska López, who clocked 12.90, three hundredths faster than Alozie into a headwind of 1m/s. After the event it became known that Alozie had stopped training for the two weeks prior to the this championships due to injury. López, 34, is formerly Cuban and is a cousin of Iván Pedroso. She has held Spanish nationality since May 2002 but is not yet eligible to represent Spain at the Worlds later this month.

World Cup winner Antonio Reina was untouchable in the men’s 800m. Reina missed the IAAF Golden League meeting in Rome and the Madrid Super Grand Prix meet owing to injury but he showed to be fully recovered and took his third national crown in a row with a convincing win in 1:46.87, well ahead of European U23 bronze medallist Manuel Olmedo runner-up in 1:47.26.

The women’s 1500m witnessed a narrow win by European Cup winner Natalia Rodríguez. Leading from the gun she reached 400m in 1:06.99, 800m in 2:16.65 and 1200m in 3:24.16. Just before the 1300 mark Zulema Fuentes-Pila made her move taking the lead but Rodríguez regained the top spot in the home straight and broke the tape in 4:09.63 while Nuria Fernández pipped Fuentes Pila for second in the closing stages 4:09.92 and 4:10.12 their respective times.

Another fierce battle took place in the men’s 5000m with two second placers from the Florence European Cup in contention, Jesús España (5000) and Carles Castillejo (3000). With the thermometer still over 35º at 21.30 the race opened cautiously and the leading pack crossed the 3000m point in a respectable 8:12.59. It seemed that España had some problems to get in touch with the head but it was just a mirage as he clinched his first 5000m title in style with a 13:34.60 clocking 10 metres ahead of Castillejo. However, none of them secured their presence in Paris as they still had to reach the qualifying standard (13:21.50), the AEA meeting to be held in San Sebastian on Sunday being the only remaining opportunity.

The bad news came in the women’s 800m where the current European silver medallist Mayte Martínez did not compete as the back injury which she sustained last month has worsened. As a result the reigning World indoor bronze medallist will be unable to attend the Worlds in Paris later this month. Spain will be represented there by the promising Esther Desviat who took the bronze medal at the recent European U23 championships held in Bydgoszcz.

In other events Iván Rodríguez won the 400 Hurdles in a season best of 49.39 as did Cora Olivera (Argentinian-born but already eligible to represent Spain) in the women’s event (56.17). European 5000m champion Marta Domínguez took her specialist event in 15:28.53 while a slightly injured Mario Pestano took the win in the men’s discus with a 61.02 release, Concepción Montaner’s 6.35 leap was enough to win the women’s Long Jump and Carlota Castrejana leapt 14.03 in the Triple Jump.

Spanish Team for Paris

The Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA) announced yesterday the names of 50 athletes who will take part at the IAAF World Championships in Paris later this month. The Spanish squad will be one of the largest competing at the Worlds.

The selectors pointed out that there will be further additions after the AEA meeting to be held in San Sebastián (ESP) this Sunday.

Men    (Season’s best in brackets)

400m: David Canal (45.01)
800m: Antonio Reina (1:44.37), Manuel Olmedo (1:45.57)
1500m: Juan Carlos Higuero (3:34.19), Reyes Estévez (3:32.86), Roberto Parra (3:36.58/3:34.66i)
10,000m: José Ríos (27:29.60)
Marathon: Julio Rey (2h07:27), José Manuel Martínez (2h08:09), Javier Cortés (2h10:39), Alberto Juzdado (2h10:53), Alejandro Gómez
3000m Steeplechase: Eliseo Martín (8:15.22), José Luis Blanco (8:16.93), Luis Miguel Martín Berlanas (8:18.02)
400m Hurdles: Iván Rodríguez (49.39)
Long Jump: Yago Lamela (8.44)
Shot Put: Manuel Martínez (21.08)
Discus Throw: Mario Pestano (64.99)
20km Walk: Francisco Fernández (1h19:08), David Márquez (1h21:41), David Domínguez (1h21:28)
50km Walk: Jesús Ángel García Bragado (3h46:03), Mikel Odriozola (3h42:03), Francisco Pinardo (3h54:01)
4x400m: David Canal, Salvador Rodríguez (45.95), Iván Rodríguez (46.19), David Melo (46.53), Antonio Reina

Women

800m: Esther Desviat (2:00.76)
1500m: Natalia Rodríguez (4:01.30), Nuria Fernández (4:03.57)
5000m: Marta Domínguez (15:28.53)
10,000m: Yesenia Centeno (31:49.58)
Marathon: María Abel, Beatriz Ros (2h31:09), Teresa Pulido (2h31:56)
100m Hurdles: Glory Alozie (12.71)
400m Hurdles: Cora Olivero (55.65)
High Jump: Ruth Beitia (2.00), Marta Mendía (1.95)
Pole Vault: Naroa Agirre (4.45)
Long Jump: Concepción Montaner (6.69)
Triple Jump: Carlota Castrejana (14.17)
Hammer Throw: Berta Castells (65.70)
20 km Walk: María Vasco (1h28:10), Mª Cruz Díaz (1h32:10), Teresa Gargallo (1h30:41)
4x100m: Glory Alozie (11.29), Cristina Sanz (11.70), Elena Córcoles (11.77), Belén Recio (11.86), Carmen Blay (11.93)