News19 Jan 2023


Global champions Garcia and Tentoglou head to Madrid

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Mariano Garcia wins the 800m at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Madrid (© Jean-Pierre Durand)

World indoor 800m champion Mariano Garcia will seek his second victory at CDM Gallur when he returns to the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Madrid on 22 February.

The Spaniard claimed his first win at the meeting in 2021, when he clocked a personal best of 1:45.66 to defeat global medallists Amel Tuka and Pierre-Ambroise Bosse.

Garcia returned to Madrid 12 months later to get second place as he prepared for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22. By that point, he had already broken the 20-year-old Spanish indoor 800m record with a 1:45.12 triumph at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, followed by another World Indoor Tour win in Lievin.

In Belgrade, Garcia capped a superb indoor season and won the world indoor 800m title in 1:46.20. Outdoors, the 25-year-old maintained his momentum by winning the European 800m title in a thrilling finish.

The Madrid meeting will this year form part of Garcia’s preparations for the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul in March. Among his opponents on 22 February will be Sweden’s national record-holder Andreas Kramer, Burundi’s Eric Nzikwinkunda and Spain’s Javier Miron.

Joining them in Madrid will be Spain’s world bronze medallist Mohamed Katir, who will race either the men’s 1500m or 3000m. If he chooses the 3000m then his rivals will include Norway’s Olympic and world gold medallist Jakob Ingebrigtsen, while if he races the 1500m, he will go up against Spain’s world fourth-place finisher and European bronze medallist Mario Garcia Romo. Another home star, Esther Guerrero, will feature in the women’s 800m.

The men’s long jump field in Madrid will also include a global gold medallist as Olympic and world indoor champion Miltiadis Tentoglou returns, seeking his second win at the meeting, four years after his 2019 triumph.

This time the Greek star will go up against Cuba’s Olympic bronze medalist Maykel Masso, Sweden’s world indoor silver medallist Thobias Montler, Spain’s Olympic fourth-place finisher Eusebio Caceres, Commonwealth champion LaQuan Nairn of The Bahamas, 2016 world indoor bronze medallist Huang Changzhou of China and Spain’s Hector Santos and Jaime Guerra.

Tentoglou and Masso have already been confirmed for the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Torun on 8 February, while Tentoglou has also been announced for the World Indoor Tour Gold event in Lievin on 15 February.

For further information on the World Indoor Tour Madrid meeting, visit the event website.

Organisers for World Athletics