Luis Miguel Martin of Spain (© Getty Images)
Sydney, Edmonton, Paris and Athens have been the four cities hosting major athletics championships in the 21st century and at the 35-barrier event, the men’s 3000m Steeplechase only one man has managed to place among the top-eight in each of those celebrations (5th/ 4th/ 6th/ 5th).
Surprisingly this athlete is not a Kenyan or even a Qatari but rather a Spaniard. His name is Luis Miguel Martín Berlanas and he should arguably be regarded as one of the most consistent steeplechase specialists in the world.
“Honestly, I hadn’t realised that statistic. It makes me extremely happy since it means I’m always in the fight for the top places. What is more relevant is that I’ve been unable to train on a regular basis for more than five or six months each season since 2000 due to persistent Achilles tendon injuries which have needed surgery three times,” confirms Martin.
He has had two operations to his left heel and one to the right tendon, each performed by the renowned Finnish doctor Sakari Orava in Turku.
Early days
Martín started his athletics career as a 1500m runner. He took part in the IAAF World Junior championships held in Plovdiv (Bulgaria) back in 1990. Then he was a 18-year-old who had set a personal best (PB) of 3:46.66 earlier in the season. Martín proudly recalls that competition: “I made the final by right, with ease in the semi-final which was won by Kenya’s Moses Kiptanui, the eventual champion, while I finished 12th in the final.
However, his dream of becoming a European Junior medallist in Thessaloniki (Greece) one year later vanished due to injury. “I missed crucial sessions of training and couldn’t even make the final”, which was won in style by his friend and then training-mate Mateo Cañellas.
Tackling the steeplechase by chance
The autumn of 1997 marked a key turning point in Martín’s biography. Aged 25 then he had set a 3:39.07 PB for the 1500m, but it was by no means enough to join the crème of world middle distance running. Then his long-standing coach Julio Bravo retired, and he faced a tough decision.
“I was assessing every possibility for some time and I finally chose to join Manuel Pascua’s training group, also in Madrid," confirmed Martin.
“His athletics knowledge soon amazed me as one of his first remarks to me was, ‘you should tackle the 3000m Steeplechase’. He had realised I had a lot of strength and thought such an event could suit me. Frankly speaking I hadn’t ever thought of moving up to the steeple, I was determined to be successful at 1500m but realistically I would not have gone beyond 3:34 or so”.
Already by the following summer Martín was contesting his new event at the 1998 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary, finishing just outside the podium in fourth place.
“It was a shame as I missed a medal due to my lack of experience. I was fastest off the final water jump but I had left too much to do for the last stages. I was running the steeple only for the fifth time in my career when taking part in that final in Budapest.”
Success arrives after Seville upset
The following year (1999) witnessed the World Championships in Seville, Spain. “I had beaten Domingo Ramón’s 19-year-old Spanish record with a 8:11.18 clocking in late May. In addition to some physical problems, a very severe qualification rule left me out of the final despite the fact I was running on home soil”.
Only the first two advanced to the final by right, and Martín was running in a heat which comprised the current and a former World record holder, respectively Bernard Barmasai and Moses Kiptanui, respectively.
Martín has of course made up for that disappointment with a remarkable series of performances in later major championships. He took fifth place at Sydney Olympics and improved to fourth one year later at the Edmonton Worlds - the top European on both occasions. However, when the European crown was at stake in Munich 2002, Martín had to settle for bronze behind his fellow countryman Antonio Jiménez, and Netherlands’ Simon Vroemen.
Much of the next season was again disrupted with injury but even in his darkest moments, Martín never lost his enthusiasm for athletics. “I love athletics, I needed to know my limits and never thought of surrendering”.
After coming in 6th place at the World Championships in Paris he even dreamt of a medal in this year’s Athens Olympics. “With 600m to go, I felt capable of making the podium but the leading group still had another change of gear and I couldn’t catch them.”
Helsinki 2005
Asked about his chances at the 2005 World Championhips to be held in Helsinki, Finland, Martín, who will turn 33 on 11 January 2005, says “I have been 5th, 4th, 6th…but I want a medal. It will be a very hard task since Shaheen will also be in contention. All I can do is to be ready just in case some of the Kenyan-born athletes fade, otherwise it’s nearly impossible to beat them. Anyway, I’m optimistic since I’m working on a full training schedule for the first time in five years and that’s very encouraging for me.”
Regarding the heated debate on changes of national allegiance, Martín declares: “each person is free to do the best for him. I don’t fear to run against five or six Kenyan-born steeplechasers in a major event. What’s more, I would say, “OK, let’s open the participation to the best 30 athletes (according to the year’s world list) regardless of his nationality. Probably, that would mean competing against 15 Africans and people can think that I would be “shooting myself in the foot” but my coach plans very carefully every season and I think I would be able to finish in the top 6 even so”.
European record quest
The European 3000m Steeplechase record has only seen a 0.71s improvement in 20 years (France’s Joseph Mahmoud ran 8:07.62 in 1984, to the present 8:06.91 clockings of Vroemen (2002) and France’s Bouabdellah Tahri (2003).
“That’s right but it’s also true that nowadays there are many more world-class European specialists than there used to be 20 years ago. Focusing only on Spain, we have three athletes among the first eight at the Worlds in Paris, which is an impressive achievement.”
Martín has dipped under 8:10 three times and is determined to break the European mark. “When I set my current PB and Spanish record of 8:07.44 the conditions were far from ideal as we went through the first kilometre too slowly (around 2:45). So I firmly believe a 8:03/8:04 mark is well within my capabilities but my life’s dream is to break the 8:00 barrier”.
What do you need for that? “Everything has to go perfectly, including the pace. I think that an even race (e.g. 2:40/2:40/2:39) would be the best. If Saif Saaeed Shaheen ran more conservatively in the first part of the race, he could even threaten the 7:50 border”.
Admiration for Kenyan runners
Known as ‘Luismi’ on the athletics circuit, Martín chose a curious nickname when he registered to chat on the Internet: ‘Kenya’. He admits his admiration for the Kenyan athletes, “they have been ruling the steeplechase since long ago and made a clean sweep in Athens, that’s fantastic.”
Martín reflects on why they are so superb, “several circumstances combine: to begin with, they live and train in altitude. Secondly their bodies seem designed for running, they are long-legged…another reason is that athletics allows them to earn a living and I think that hunger makes them run faster.”
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF