Chapado: “These World Cups don’t allow us to show the potential we have”

Raul Chapadopresident of the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation, described the Indoor World Championships in Glasgow (Scotland) as a “rollercoaster of emotions” and declared that the feeling with which he left the competition was that he “did not show the potential” that the Spanish team had.

Spain closed the Glasgow Indoor World Championships with a balance of two bronze medals with Ana Peleteiro (triple jump) and Fátima Diame (long) and four finalist positions with Quique Llopis (fourth in the 60 hurdles), Mariano García (fifth in the 800) and Adel Mechaal (sixth in the 1,500 and 3,000).

The bad news is the serious injury of the combine María Vicentewho ruptured the Achilles tendon on the left side while competing, and hurdler Asier Martínez, who was disqualified from the semifinals for a null start that the Spanish team appealed without success.

“The championship has been a rollercoaster of emotions. We started with a huge backlog, destroyed, because of María Vicente’s injury, and I think the most important thing is how the team recovers. If you analyze each of the individual events, I don’t remember a championship where everyone has been, with tactical mistakes that may have been made, at their level of competition more or less,” said Chapado in the media, as a summary of the championships.

“I think these World Cups didn’t allow us to show the true potential of the team that came because of María, Asier or the 800 final. But this is athletics and that’s how it is. Small countries have had good championships and other big championships not so much. “We remain among the top eight countries in the points table, something that seems simple but is not, although I think that due to various situations the championship does not allow us to show the potential we have, ” he says.

For the RFEA president, during the championship there is “joy or justice” like Quique Llopis in the 60 hurdles. “He may have been left disappointed in fourth place but all in all it was good news.”

“I was left in Fátima Diame’s emergency. He is about to tie it in Budapest and here, going through the back door, he got on the podium on his own merit because he tried for years,” he said.

Ana Peleteiro, who after two years without competing in a major championship due to motherhood returned with a bronze in the triple jump, was one of the great protagonists.

“Ana surprised me a bit. First because I saw him in good condition at the Spanish Championship in Orense, he pointed to things and from what jumped to what came here you need to add thirty centimeters. It’s always been like that since I was young. I don’t know any competitive athletes. He is in a moment of maturity and technical and physical balance that feeds him on the court. He not only returned to compete, but to fight for everything,” he stated.

Looking ahead, in a year with the European Championship in Rome and the Olympic Games in Paris, the sentiment for Spain is good.

“There is a lot of potential left at home and I think there are athletes here who are probably disappointed like Mario García Romo, who may not have been happy during the winter, but have done the work they need to be more competitive. We also have to talk about those who didn’t come, because Adrián Ben is probably as competitive as Mohammed Attaoui or Mariano García. Jordan Díaz joined, the march… the future is exciting,” he said.

“María Vicente taught us that no matter how passionate you are about athletics, sometimes it can be cruel.. The team maintains a great competitiveness, fighting for everything,” he said.

Aside from María Vicente, the other misfortune of the championships was that of Asier Martínez, who was disqualified in the semifinal of the 60 hurdles after a null start.

“There are decisions that we respect, even if we don’t agree. We work with the processes established by the regulations and sometimes you feel it could be the other way around. There are judges, they examine and decide that. Even if we are not satisfied, we have to accept,” he concluded.