Natalia Rodríguez after her 3000m victory in Huelva (© Javier Aznar)
Barcelona, SpainTwo world class 1500m rces were the key highlights of the 89th Spanish Championships which were celebrated over the weekend (1-2 August) in the ‘Estadio Lluís Companys’, the stadium that will host the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona in 2010.
Birthday present for Estévez, against the odds
As has become tradition, the men’s 1500m was the most awaited final by far throughout the weekend. The event featured no less than four athletes holding the ‘A’ qualifying standard for the World championships with all of them having timed 3:35.76 or faster but Estévez was not among them, arriving in Barcelona with a modest 3:39.61 SB and a DNF performance at last Saturday’s EA permit on the same track.
The race opened at a reasonable pace for a championships race as the pack went through the opening 400m in 58.46; after a slower second lap for a 1:58.61 split the main contenders crossed the 1200 point in 2:57.69 and then Beijing Olympics’ fifth placed Juan Carlos Higuero made his move, closely followed by the defending champion Arturo Casado, twice World bronze medallist Reyes Estévez, 2007 European U-23 champion Álvaro Rodríguez and European indoor silver medallist Diego Ruiz.
The quintet entered the home-straight virtually balanced with all still clinging to a chance for victory. The crucial move came with 80m to go when Estévez pulled away from the others running on the inside to build a sizeable margin of five to six metres in a matter of few strides. On the day of his 33rd birthday Estévez even looked back while raising his arms celebrating his success several times before crossing the finish line in 3:38.63.
The battle for the minor places on the podium was more than fierce as barely seven hundredths of a second covered the athletes with Higuero (runner-up in 3:39.00) prevailing over Casado (3:39.04) and Rodríguez (3:39.07) with Ruiz back in fourth clocking 3:39.80.
A gifted prodigy, Estévez overwhelmingly snatched two European Junior golds in 1993 and 1995 to match that success on the senior level at the 1998 Europeans in Budapest. The Barcelona native ace also has two (1997 and 1999) World bronze medals under his belt and yesterday grabbed his fourth 1500m outdoor national title 12 years (!) after his first back in 1997.
“Such a birthday,” commented a joyful Estévez, whose last national crown dated back to 2004. “I can’t believe this win. Despite my latest results, I knew my form was fine and my improvement is daily. I have performed quite comfortably today and very determined to grab a surprise win. It has been ages since the last time I felt like today on the home straight. Now, it’s time to await the decision of the Spanish Federation. Obviously, I would pick myself for Berlin,” Estévez said with a broad smile. He holds the ‘A’ qualifying standard for the Worlds thanks to a 3:34.98 clocking from last year.
To give an idea of the current 1500m Spanish standards suffice to say that, with Higuero and Casado having secured their berths for Berlin, should Estévez finally be selected for Berlin that would mean the non-selection of reigning European indoor silver medallist Diego Ruiz, holder of a 3:35.25 SB and a recent victor at the Barcelona EA permit from Casado.
Rodríguez aims Berlin success
The women’s 1500m final featured two first-class athletes in the guise of reigning European indoor medallist Natalia Rodríguez and this year’s world indoor leader (4:01.77) Nuria Fernández. Both specialists became mothers in late 2007 and have returned successfully to the international elite.
The event developed at a pedestrian pace (1:13.21 and 2:27:37 for the 400 and 800 splits respectively) with a packed leading group headed by the two hot favourites; nobody dared surpass them and it was the 30-year-old Rodríguez who produced a devastating kick with exactly 300m left which could only be partially covered by Fernández and Iris Fuentes-Pila. But Rodríguez did not relinquish at any time and romped home in 4:18.69 to Fernández’s 4:18.98 while the defending champion Fuentes-Pila took third timed at 4:20.64.
It’s worth mentioning that it only took Rodríguez 40.87s (!) to cover the closing 300m, exactly the same split managed for Estévez in the men’s race which was comparatively faster.
An ecstatic Rodríguez declared after taking her eighth National title, “Everything went according to the scheduled plan. I felt very strong throughout the race and I look forward to competing in Berlin. I’m sure all the work I have done will pay dividends at the Worlds where I’ll fight to the death to be at the top,” confirmed a confident Rodríguez, who is the Spanish record holder at 3:59.51.
Marco and Martínez reign over 800m
Current World bronze medallist Mayte Martínez managed a fine win in the women’s 800m in 2:01.35. The 33-year-old has been hampered with injuries after her Osaka world medal but she’s still confident of performing at a high level in Berlin.
“I have not dipped under the 2:00 barrier this season but I feel fine and I’ll take advantage of the couple of weeks prior to the Worlds to improve my form. Today’s race is a confidence booster for Berlin.”
The men’s event witnessed Luis Alberto Marco’s success. Tthe 23-year-old reigning European indoor silver medallist took the lead from the gun albeit he set a slow pace (55:37 at the bell). Marco hold off the challenge of his training mate and newly minted European Junior champion Kevin López to capture his first outdoor title in 1:48.88. In a blanket finish, the 19-year-old López (1:49.05) bettered Miguel Quesada (1:49.08) while the defending champion Manuel Olmedo was out of the podium another three hundredths adrift.
España is the 5000m boss
The reigning European 5000m champion Jesús España took his sixth National title in 13:35.70 thanks to a frantic 2:30 final 1000m while Sergio Sánchez, who took fourth at the European indoors over 3000m, secured his Berlin spot by winning silver (13:36.18) ahead of 10,000 specialist Carlos Castillejo (13:36.45) while the fastest Spaniard of the year, the Ethiopian-born Alemayehu Bezabeh, had to settle for fourth way back after losing several weeks of training in July through injury.
Pestano and Beitia succeed, Fernández disqualified
Elsewhere, Discus thrower Mario Pestano took revenge on Frank Casañas, who had beaten him in their last two encounters this year, to grab gold thanks to a 66.22m last effort for Casañas’ 63.71m second attempt release. Also in the infield reigning European indoor silver medallist Ruth Beitia had to be satisfied with a 1.90m clearance. Manuel Martínez got his 15th (!) National title in the men’s Shot Put although he could not surpass the 20m barrier (19.88m).
‘Paquillo’ Fernández, the Osaka silver medallist in the men’s 20km Race Walk, was a bit angry following a disqualification in the 10,000 Walk on the track but he will defend his silver medal in Berlin.
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF
Birthday present for Estévez, against the odds
As has become tradition, the men’s 1500m was the most awaited final by far throughout the weekend. The event featured no less than four athletes holding the ‘A’ qualifying standard for the World championships with all of them having timed 3:35.76 or faster but Estévez was not among them, arriving in Barcelona with a modest 3:39.61 SB and a DNF performance at last Saturday’s EA permit on the same track.
The race opened at a reasonable pace for a championships race as the pack went through the opening 400m in 58.46; after a slower second lap for a 1:58.61 split the main contenders crossed the 1200 point in 2:57.69 and then Beijing Olympics’ fifth placed Juan Carlos Higuero made his move, closely followed by the defending champion Arturo Casado, twice World bronze medallist Reyes Estévez, 2007 European U-23 champion Álvaro Rodríguez and European indoor silver medallist Diego Ruiz.
The quintet entered the home-straight virtually balanced with all still clinging to a chance for victory. The crucial move came with 80m to go when Estévez pulled away from the others running on the inside to build a sizeable margin of five to six metres in a matter of few strides. On the day of his 33rd birthday Estévez even looked back while raising his arms celebrating his success several times before crossing the finish line in 3:38.63.
The battle for the minor places on the podium was more than fierce as barely seven hundredths of a second covered the athletes with Higuero (runner-up in 3:39.00) prevailing over Casado (3:39.04) and Rodríguez (3:39.07) with Ruiz back in fourth clocking 3:39.80.
A gifted prodigy, Estévez overwhelmingly snatched two European Junior golds in 1993 and 1995 to match that success on the senior level at the 1998 Europeans in Budapest. The Barcelona native ace also has two (1997 and 1999) World bronze medals under his belt and yesterday grabbed his fourth 1500m outdoor national title 12 years (!) after his first back in 1997.
“Such a birthday,” commented a joyful Estévez, whose last national crown dated back to 2004. “I can’t believe this win. Despite my latest results, I knew my form was fine and my improvement is daily. I have performed quite comfortably today and very determined to grab a surprise win. It has been ages since the last time I felt like today on the home straight. Now, it’s time to await the decision of the Spanish Federation. Obviously, I would pick myself for Berlin,” Estévez said with a broad smile. He holds the ‘A’ qualifying standard for the Worlds thanks to a 3:34.98 clocking from last year.
To give an idea of the current 1500m Spanish standards suffice to say that, with Higuero and Casado having secured their berths for Berlin, should Estévez finally be selected for Berlin that would mean the non-selection of reigning European indoor silver medallist Diego Ruiz, holder of a 3:35.25 SB and a recent victor at the Barcelona EA permit from Casado.
Rodríguez aims Berlin success
The women’s 1500m final featured two first-class athletes in the guise of reigning European indoor medallist Natalia Rodríguez and this year’s world indoor leader (4:01.77) Nuria Fernández. Both specialists became mothers in late 2007 and have returned successfully to the international elite.
The event developed at a pedestrian pace (1:13.21 and 2:27:37 for the 400 and 800 splits respectively) with a packed leading group headed by the two hot favourites; nobody dared surpass them and it was the 30-year-old Rodríguez who produced a devastating kick with exactly 300m left which could only be partially covered by Fernández and Iris Fuentes-Pila. But Rodríguez did not relinquish at any time and romped home in 4:18.69 to Fernández’s 4:18.98 while the defending champion Fuentes-Pila took third timed at 4:20.64.
It’s worth mentioning that it only took Rodríguez 40.87s (!) to cover the closing 300m, exactly the same split managed for Estévez in the men’s race which was comparatively faster.
An ecstatic Rodríguez declared after taking her eighth National title, “Everything went according to the scheduled plan. I felt very strong throughout the race and I look forward to competing in Berlin. I’m sure all the work I have done will pay dividends at the Worlds where I’ll fight to the death to be at the top,” confirmed a confident Rodríguez, who is the Spanish record holder at 3:59.51.
Marco and Martínez reign over 800m
Current World bronze medallist Mayte Martínez managed a fine win in the women’s 800m in 2:01.35. The 33-year-old has been hampered with injuries after her Osaka world medal but she’s still confident of performing at a high level in Berlin.
“I have not dipped under the 2:00 barrier this season but I feel fine and I’ll take advantage of the couple of weeks prior to the Worlds to improve my form. Today’s race is a confidence booster for Berlin.”
The men’s event witnessed Luis Alberto Marco’s success. Tthe 23-year-old reigning European indoor silver medallist took the lead from the gun albeit he set a slow pace (55:37 at the bell). Marco hold off the challenge of his training mate and newly minted European Junior champion Kevin López to capture his first outdoor title in 1:48.88. In a blanket finish, the 19-year-old López (1:49.05) bettered Miguel Quesada (1:49.08) while the defending champion Manuel Olmedo was out of the podium another three hundredths adrift.
España is the 5000m boss
The reigning European 5000m champion Jesús España took his sixth National title in 13:35.70 thanks to a frantic 2:30 final 1000m while Sergio Sánchez, who took fourth at the European indoors over 3000m, secured his Berlin spot by winning silver (13:36.18) ahead of 10,000 specialist Carlos Castillejo (13:36.45) while the fastest Spaniard of the year, the Ethiopian-born Alemayehu Bezabeh, had to settle for fourth way back after losing several weeks of training in July through injury.
Pestano and Beitia succeed, Fernández disqualified
Elsewhere, Discus thrower Mario Pestano took revenge on Frank Casañas, who had beaten him in their last two encounters this year, to grab gold thanks to a 66.22m last effort for Casañas’ 63.71m second attempt release. Also in the infield reigning European indoor silver medallist Ruth Beitia had to be satisfied with a 1.90m clearance. Manuel Martínez got his 15th (!) National title in the men’s Shot Put although he could not surpass the 20m barrier (19.88m).
‘Paquillo’ Fernández, the Osaka silver medallist in the men’s 20km Race Walk, was a bit angry following a disqualification in the 10,000 Walk on the track but he will defend his silver medal in Berlin.
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF
