MADRID, 28 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The athletes Álvaro Martín, Miguel Ángel López, Marc Tur, María Pérez and Raquel González lead the list of Spaniards who will participate in the European Team Walking Championships, which will take place on May 21 in the Czech town of Podebrady.
There, five absolute European medalists and three continental finalists will seek the medals, including the current 20 and 35 kilometer absolute champions and the 35 kilometer runner-up, as well as the long distance European record holder.
Antía Chamosa, Carmen Escariz, Mar Juárez and Lucía Redondo make up the women’s 20 kilometer team; Raquel González, Paula Juárez, Cristina Montesinos and María Pérez, the 35-year-old; and Aldara Meilán, Sofía Santacreu and Griselda Serret, the 10-kilometre Sub-20.
In men, Alberto Amezcua, Diego García, Álvaro López and Paul McGrath will make up the 20 kilometer team; Manuel Bermúdez, Miguel Ángel López, Álvaro Martín and Marc Tur, the 35-year-old; and Daniel Morilla, Pablo Postigo and Pablo Rodríguez, the 10-kilometer Sub-20.
The two-time European champion of 20 kilometers, march Álvaro Martín, ‘ups’ this time to 35 kilometers, a distance that debuts in the championship in the men’s category after 14 editions with the 50 kilometers on the program. The man from Extremadura comes as the current Spanish champion of 35 and 20 kilometers, a national double that has not happened since 2015, with Miguel Ángel López.
The Murcian, Spanish record holder and current 35-kilometer European champion, will seek his fifth team title in the European Championship in Podebrady after four wins over 20 kilometers in a team that he will share, in addition to Martín, with Manuel Bermúdez, fourth in Europe in the distance in Munich 2022; and Marc Tur, fourth Olympic 50 km in Tokyo and bronze in the Spanish Championship of Cieza with 2:29:38, the fourth Spanish record in history.
The third men’s continental medalist who will compete in Podebrady will be Diego García Carrera, European silver in 2018, bronze in 2022 in a 20-kilometer walk and silver in Cieza with the third Spanish mark ever (2:29:04). In the 20 kilometer team will also be the fourth classified in the European past, Alberto Amezcua; and the silver and bronze medalists in the last Spanish Championship in Córdoba, Paul McGrath and Álvaro López.
In women, the European record holder of 35 kilometers, María Pérez, will lead the 35 km team after beating her own Spanish record of 20 kilometers (2:25:30) in Córdoba, adding a new title to the one won a month ago in Cieza in 35. The runner-up in Europe over 35 kilometers and silver in the National, Raquel González, will also join the quartet along with the runner-up in Spain over 35 km, Cristina Montesinos; and Paula Juárez, fifth in the 35 km Spanish Championship.
In 20 km, Spain is led by Mar Juárez, European finalist in 35 kilometers last summer, and she is accompanied by the double national medalist of 20 and 35 kilometers, Antía Chamosa; the Spanish Under-23 champion of 20 kilometers, Lucía Redondo; and Carmen Escariz, seventh in the 20-kilometre National.
Among the Under-20s, the presence of the European Under-18 5,000 meter champion Sofía Santacreu, recently named the best Athletics Generation athlete of 2022, stands out.