Spanish Championship in La Nucía: Sánchez-Escribano secures minimum RFEA mark for Paris Olympics
Irene Sánchez-Escribano and Carolina Robles emerged exhausted but triumphant at the Estadi Olímpic Camilo Cano, with the Toledo-born athlete achieving the minimum required time for the Paris Games in the direct final of the 3,000m obstacles. Marta Serrano, the daughter of coach Antonio Serrano, sacrificed her pace in the first thousand meters to act as a pacesetter, allowing Sánchez-Escribano and Robles to engage in a thrilling duel.
Robles took the top spot with a personal best time of 9:22.19, breaking the championship record, while Sánchez-Escribano recorded a time of 9:24.47, beating the required minimum mark set by the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA). Marta Serrano completed the podium with a time of 9:55.36.
Sánchez-Escribano’s achievement was made all the more poignant as she had missed out on the Tokyo Olympics due to a foot fracture, suffering bitter tears from her teammate and friend Marta Pérez at the time. This weekend, the Toledo athlete can now look forward to competing at her first Olympic Games alongside her friend and teammate.
In the men’s 5,000m, Adel Mechaal and Thierry Ndikumwenayo put on a thrilling show, with the latter leaving his Catalan rival behind with a brutal change of pace 300m from the finish line. Ndikumwenayo crossed the line with a time of 13:20.81, ahead of Mechaal’s 13:24.52. Eduardo Menacho completed the podium with a time of 13:37.45.
In the afternoon session, the speed kings stole the show. Abel Jordán and Ricardo Sánchez, both under the 10.20 barrier this year, competed against established names like Bernat Canet and Sergio López. Jordán got off to a poor start, but recovered well to finish with a 10.19 (-0.5) equaling his personal best. Sánchez took silver with a 10.31, while Canet settled for bronze with a 10.44.
Paula García took the top spot in the female heptathlon with a time of 11.46 (-1.2), ousting defending champion Lucia Carrillo from the top spot. The Madrid-born athlete’s win is likely to secure her a place at the Paris Olympics as part of the 4×100 relay team, replacing the injured Maribel Pérez.
Ana Peleteiro continued her incredible form, taking gold with a best flight of 14.27 meters (-0.1) in the women’s triple jump. Elda Romeva and Naiara Estanga took silver and bronze respectively, behind the Galician athlete’s impressive display.
In other events, Laura Redondo secured his sixth championship gold medal in the female hammer, with a mark of 68.36 meters, while Adrian Perez won his first national title in the pole vault with a 5.45-meter jump.
Sergio Fernández shone in the men’s 400m hurdles, setting a minimum RFEA mark of 49.66 to book his spot at the Paris Olympics, if he can reproduce the form in Saturday’s final. The Navarrese athlete is seeking to claim his third Olympic Games appearance after Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.