Chepngetich, favorite in the women’s event; García, Marqués, Robles, Priego and Luengo fight to be the best Spanish
MADRID, 30 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish athletes Adel Mechaal, Yago Rojo and Adrián Ben lead this Tuesday (7:55 p.m.) the national options to win the 60th edition of the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana in the international category, the traditional 10-kilometer race that serves to say goodbye to the year running through the streets of Madrid, although the winner points to the stellar duel between the Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo and the Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi.
Aregawi won the last edition in 2023 and will defend the victory with the guarantee and tranquility that comes with the Olympic silver in 10,000 meters won at the Paris Games this summer, his double world runner-up in cross country (2023 and 2024). and his 10K road mark, the second best in history -26:33, achieved in Laredo in 2023-, just nine seconds behind the Kenyan Rhonex Kipruto’s record.
The Ethiopian will have his main rival for victory in Kiplimo. The Ugandan competed, and won, in 2018, when he also established the record for the Madrid event (26:41), unbeaten since then. The double cross country world champion, in 2023 and 2024 and Olympic bronze in Tokyo 2020 in 10,000 meters returns to the race to claim his throne, after in addition to registering the 15K world record (40:42) on the road in November , in Nijmegen (Netherlands), taking it from his compatriot Joshua Cheptegei.
Furthermore, the Ethiopian Nibret Kinde, only 18 years old, wants to be the alternative to this stellar duel. He arrives with 28:35 as the best time in 10K on the road and with a sixth place in the U20 World Cup in 5,000 meters this summer. Along with Kinde, the Tanzanian Inyasi Nicodemus Sulley, 26, arrives as if covered. He finished seventh in the Lille Half Marathon (France), in his best international result, and his best mark in 10K is 28:32, achieved in his country in 2022.
The Africans will have some tough competitors in the Spanish army, led by Adel Mechaal who, after a few years of absence, is fighting to get on the podium in the Madrid event. The national record holder in the 1,500 meters indoor track and European champion in 3,000 meters in 2017 arrives in one of his best moments in the distance, after becoming the fastest Spaniard in history in a 10K in the Zara Speed Run (26: 46), only five seconds slower than the San Silvestre Vallecana record.
Jesús Ramos will also run through the streets of Madrid, returning after getting on the podium in the 2022 edition, with a time of 27:52; Yago Rojo, fifth in the last edition and who arrives after an injury after the Paris Games; and Adrián Ben, European champion, fourth world champion and fifth Olympic champion in 800 meters. A squad that also includes Jesús Ramos, double national champion in 10K in 2022 and 2023, and Ibrahim Chakir, current national marathon champion.
In the women’s category, the big favorite is the Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich, who has the ambitious goal of winning and under 30 minutes, something that her compatriot Brigid Kosgei achieved for the last time. The great candidate in this edition broke the marathon record in Chicago a little over two months ago, and will want to get even for her second place in Madrid achieved in 2020.
Her main rival will be the Ethiopian Adawork Aberta, who has just finished seventh in the Seville marathon, and who wants to lower her personal best, which is 32:27. The international quota for the event is completed by the Turkish Emine Hartun Mechaal and Tugva GuvençYenigum, who was fifth in 2022 at the European Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
All of them will make the Spanish victory in Madrid difficult, something that has not happened since 2008, but the national roster invites optimism, with the dream of going down for the first time in the 33-minute test. The Segovian Águeda Marqués, holder of the fourth best national record in the 10k route (31:58) and who will compete for the second time in the ‘Sansil’, is one of the best placed, in addition to the Extremaduran Laura Luengo, who has the second best Spanish mark in marathon history.
In that fight to be the best Spanish in the streets of Madrid, Marta García from Palencia, bronze in the European Championships in 5,000 meters, also has something to say; Laura Priego from Madrid, who already achieved it in 2021 and 2023; or the Sevillian Carolina Robles, specialist in 3,000 m obstacles, in addition to the current national distance champion, Lidia Campo.