'Paquillo' Fernández walks to world best at 10,000m race walk at 2008 Spanish champs (© Julio Fontán)
A phenomenal 37:53.09 10,000m Race Walk on the track by ‘Paquillo’ Fernández, a huge Discus Throw national record of 69.50m for Mario Pestano, and an overwhelming win in a world-class men’s 1500m by Arturo Casado were the key highlights of the 88th Spanish Championships which were celebrated over the weekend (26 - 27).
It was the first time this competition was held in the Canary Islands.
World best performance for Fernández
The 37:53.09 clocking set by the reigning Olympic and World 20km Race Walking silver medallist is the fastest time in history slicing over five seconds from the previous mark held by Italy’s current Olympic gold medallist Ivano Brugnetti (37:58.6h back in 2005).
However, the feat came quite unexpectedly according to the 31-year-old Spaniard’s own words: “Exactly like last year (when he recorded a fine 38:07.65 time) my only target was just to test myself to assess my form. My coach Robert Korzeniowski has advised me to perform in the 38:30-38:40 range but everything was right, I felt extremely strong and I managed a clocking which gives me a lot of confident thinking of the Olympics.”
Ironically, the schedule of the event (17.10hrs on Sunday, 27) was not to Fernández’s liking who preferred a later timetable. But neither the humidity nor the heat at that early stage of the afternoon prevented the Spanish ace to write another glorious chapter in his successful athletics career since he has been on the podium places at every major championships since 2002.
The double European 20km champion walked at a very even pace going through the opening kilo in 3:48.13, passing the 3000m point in 11:23.11 to reach halfway in an already world best schedule of 18:57.31. A second half covered in a similar figure of 18:55.78 led him to lap all his opponents including a former European U-23 champion and a 2005 World bronze medallist, respectively Benjamín Sánchez and Juan Manuel Molina, who took second and third, both dipping under the 40:00 barrier.
Fresh from a 27-day stint in the 1800m altitude of Font Romeu, Fernández maps out now a 10-day training camp in Matsue (Japan) from 3-13 of August before travelling to Beijing where he will try once again to take the gold medal which has eluded him so far at both Worlds and Olympics.
Asked on his assault on the Olympic title the double World Cup winner commented: “Of course, I’ll be chasing gold but once more Ecuador’s Jefferson Perez must be regarded as the hot favourite. I can’t get obsessed with the gold medal. It’s an Olympics and any podium place would be welcome. One thing is for sure: should I win, then I’ll go up to the 50km event next year. Otherwise, let’s see.”
When asked on how he forecasts the development of the Beijing encounter, ‘Paquillo’ predicted: “I’m guessing that the final move will come around the 16th or 17th km,” adding “Perez, Mexico’s Eder Sanchez and my training mate Ilya Markov of Russia plus the usual surprise athlete at any championships should be my strongest opponents.”
Casado is the 1500m boss
As it has become a tradition, the men’s 1500m was the most awaited final by far throughout the weekend. The event featured no less than five athletes holding the qualifying standard for the Olympics with all of them having timed 3:35.40 or quicker.
The race opened at a pedestrian pace with successive splits of 1:07.19 (400m) and 2:14.15. By then it was the 25-year-old Arturo Casado who was at the front and nobody dared to surpass him. At the bell, the reigning European indoor bronze medallist kept his leadership closely followed by the defending champion Juan Carlos Higuero, former European champion and twice World bronze medallist Reyes Estévez plus Diego Ruiz.
The final 300m took 38.90 for Casado, there was no catching him and he romped home unopposed in 3:51.51, some 0.25 seconds ahead of a fast-finishing Estévez, who only ran in fifth with 200m left while Higuero had to settle for third on this occasion but at least held off the late challenge of Diego Ruiz (3.51.90/3:52.09) to secure a berth for the Olympics.
A delighted Casado declared: “Honestly, winning it has not been a surprise; I know my rivals are world-class but I’m in the form of my life, I’ve set 800 (1:45.69) and 1500 (3:33.14) PBs earlier in July and that indicates I’m on the right path to Beijing.”
To give an idea of Casado’s self-confidence he replied an adamant “no” when asked “would you accept a silver medal at the Olympics?”. Casado already finished 5th and 7th at the last two World championships in Helsinki and Osaka, respectively.
“I look forward to Beijing as my peak will only come by then. Honestly, I don’t mind which kind of race (slow, fast, etc.) the final is as I’m ready for any type of competition” said a confident Casado who plans now one week of quality training in his Madrid-base before making the trip to Beijing.
The 1.85 tall also believes that “America’s Bernard Lagat, France’s Mehdi Baala, Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop and Britain’s Andy Baddeley” should provided him the stiffest opposition.
Pestano succeeds in his hometown, 69.50 NR
Mario Pestano was born 30 years ago in Tenerife and so yesterday’s event was so emotional for this season’s European Cup victor: “before the contest I was quite nervous because I was going to throw in front of my home crowd and I didn’t want to let them down”. Actually, the Spanish giant unleashed a massive 69.50 fourth-round effort to improve his own career best and national record by almost one metre (previous of 68.61 last May). Pestano backed his win another couple of remarkable heaves measured at 67.35 and 67.64.
Frank Casañas produced a farthest toss of 65.56 but the Cuban-born thrower had to settle for the runner-up place behind the local star.
Pestano’s 69.50 ranks now third on this year’s world list as only Estonia’s Gerd Kanter and Lithuania’s Virgilijus Alekna has gone further. Pestano defeated the Lithuanian recently at the Madrid IAAF World Athletics Tour meet by a mere centimetre. The Spaniard has been unsuccessfully chased a medal at the international scene since his breakthrough in 2002 when he took 4th place at the Munich Europeans but the podium has proved to be elusive for him so far.
Beitia, España shows fine form
In the infield former European and World indoor medallist Ruth Beitia clinched an easy win in the women’s High Jump thanks to a 1.98 second-try clearance before failing three times at a would-be NR of 2.03. Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic aside, the 29-year-old Beitia should fight for the minor podium places at the Olympics, having cleared 2.01 so far this year to defeat Russia’s defending Olympic champion Yelena Slesarenko in the process.
The tactical men’s 5000m witnessed a family affair as the España brothers snatched gold (Jesús) and bronze (Francisco) sandwiched by former European champion Alberto García, who took silver at the age of 37. The reigning European champion España proved to be fully recovered from the minor injury which prevented him to perform at the Madrid and Barcelona permits and he looks forward to matching his Osaka performance where he finished a creditable 7th.
The sprint hurdles events saw a clear win for Josephine Onya (12.77) in a tailwind of 1.8m/s in the women’s 100m Hurdles, and the withdrawal of Jackson Quiñónez from the mne’s 110m Hurdles as the Osaka-7th placed did not compete as a precautionary measure having felt some discomfort on the eve of the championships.
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF
Click here for FULL RESULTS (pdf)
