Manuel Olmedo takes the European indoor 1500m title in Paris (© Getty Images)
Málaga, SpainA number of top Spanish athletes proved to be in excellent shape at the 91st Spanish Championships which were celebrated over the weekend (6-7 August) in the southern city of Málaga in very hot (36ºC) and windy conditions.
While the reigning European indoor 1500m champion Manuel Olmedo put himself into the medal picture for the upcoming World Championships in Daegu, Mario Pestano had a superb series in the Discus topped by a 67.97 release. Also on the infield, Italy’s Antonietta Di Martino, competing as a guest topped 2.00m in the High Jump.
Olmedo in class of his own
As has become tradition, the men’s 1500m was one of the most awaited finals of the weekend. Even in the absence of the current European champion Arturo Casado through an injury which will force him to miss the Worlds, the event featured a slew of international medallists to fight for the three berths at stake.
The race became the typical cagey championships affair with pedestrian early splits of 1:08.15 (400) and 2:17.66 (800). Shortly afterwards the former (2008) World indoor bronze medallist Juan Carlos Higuero injected a much brisker rhythm to reach the 1200 point in 3:15.71 for a 58.15 split.
Entering the last bend the season’s leader (3:33.18) Diego Ruiz moved to the front but it was a short-lived lead as Olmedo unleashed a devastating final kick some 150m to the finish line to open a sizeable 10-metre gap in a matter of a few strides.
The 28-year-old romped home in 3:53.86, his frantic closing 300m taking less than 38 seconds while the fierce battle for the minor places on the podium witnessed Ruiz prevailing over Francisco Javier Abad by one tenth (3:54.65 vs 3:54.66). A fading Higuero was pipped in the closing stages by the reigning European under-23 bronze medallist David Bustos and had to settle for fifth.
An ecstatic Olmedo was quoted as saying: “I’m delighted as I have retained my title from last year. I really felt superb during the race, everything went right. My homestraight has been fantastic.”
Asked on his expectations for Daegu, a cautious Olmedo declared: “I look forward to competing there where I’ll be eyeing a spot in the final. A medal? That needs talking about!”
Holder of a relatively modest personal best of 3:34.44, Olmedo, who set an 800m career best of 1:44.56 last month, added: “I’m in very good shape and ready to run a very fast 1500. After the Worlds, I plan to compete in Rieti where I should be in the 3:31-3:32 range.”
España keeps Sánchez at bay
Time goes by but Jesús España proved once again he is the undisputed king of the 5000m. Fresh from an impressive PB of 13:04.73 in Monaco a fortnight ago, the soon-to-be 33-year-old España seemed comfortable with the extremely slow early pace, 8:43.21 for the opening 3000 metres.
The first serious move came with 1000m left when the current World indoor 3000m silver medallist Sergio Sánchez changed the pace dramatically to open a 30 metre margin on España, who didn’t panic at any moment lowering his disadvantage bit by bit instead. The closing 100 metres were more than thrilling, with España barely one metre ahead of Sánchez. Finally, the former added another title (8th) to his impressive background in a 14:06.37 performance for Sánchez’s 14:06.65.
Pestano shines in the infield
The 33-year-old Mario Pestano produced a huge season’s best of 67.97m to rise to fourth poisition on this year’s world list. The Spanish giant opened with a poor 60.97m effort but he progressively improved to 66.21m, 67.09m and 67.76m. After a foul in round five, Pestano ended the contest with a massive 67.97m toss to secure his 11th (!) consecutive national title ahead of the Cuban-born Frank Casañas, runner-up in with a fine 66.15m fifth round release.
López over Marco in the 800m
The reigning European under-23 silver medallist Kevin López outclashed his training-mate Luis Alberto Marco in the men’s 800m to take his second title in a row. Fresh from a huge career best of 1:44.49 set in Barcelona a fortnight ago, the 21-year-old kicked off the race conservatively as he travelled in fourth at the bell which was reached in 53.63 by the National record holder Antonio Reina with Marco at his shoulder.
It was with 1:18 on the clock when the in-form López took command of the event, he never relinquished it and romped home unopposed in 1:47.87 while Marco easily overtook Reina over the last 80 metres to finish runner-up, 1:48.28 and 1:49.18 their respective clockings.
Elsewhere...
The men’s 3000m steeplechase featured no less than eight (!) athletes having achieved the qualifying standard for Daegu, five of them the ‘A’ time and another three the ‘B’.
Finally, it was the 26-year-old Tomás Tajadura (8:19.00 PB) who grabbed the title in style in 8:28.70 ahead of Víctor García (8:29.33) and season leader Ángel Mullera, timed at 8:30.30.
27-year-old Berta Castells broke the National record in the women’s Hammer thanks to a 69.53m release; her series also included three more throws beyond the 69.00m barrier.
Also in the infield, the newly-minted European under-23 High Jump bronze medallist Miguel Ángel Sancho grabbed the gold with a 2.26 first-time clearance for a season best.
The only double victor over the weekend was Ángel Rodríguez. The 31-year-old took the 100m title on Saturday in a far from impressive 10.40 time but he startled the crowd on Sunday thanks to a 20.34 200m run helped by a +2.5m/s tailwind.
Julia Takacs was a commanding winner in the women’s 10,000m Race Walk on the track timed at 44:05.41 for María Vasco’s 44:45.18 for second. In the men’s section ‘Paquillo’ Fernández stamped his authority thanks to a 40:55.62 clocking.
Di Martino clears 2.00m
Italy’s reigning European indoor High Jump champion Antonietta Di Martino was invited by the Spanish Federation to compete in Málaga and the 33-year-old took advantage of the occasion to clear the bar at 2.00m on her third try to become only the third woman over that barrier so far this season. The national title went to Ruth Beitia, the current World and European indoor silver medallist, who had to settle for a second-time 1.92 clearance on this occasion.
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF
