Paul McGrath from Barcelona and Laura García Caro from Huelva ahead of Spanish group of six walkers for Europeans in Rome (June 7-12), which also includes Diego García Carrera, Alberto Amezcua, Raquel González and Cristina Montesinos.
Six walkers, among them not the double world champion of 20 and 35 kilometer walks, Álvaro Martín and María Pérez, who resigned to focus on the Paris Olympic Games, are on the list of those called by coach José Peiró after completing the standard established by the Sports Directorate of the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation.
The Spanish U23 record holder tops the men’s list Paul McGrath, who is having a great season, first announced himself as the absolute and sub-23 champion of Spain in Zaragoza with a time of 1h17:55 which places him as the third absolute Spaniard of all time. Furthermore, just a month ago in Antalya (Turkey), in the World Team Championship where he qualified in second position, he led the team to achieve the national title. This will be his debut in a full European Championship.
The veteran is also in Rome Diego García Carrera, who, at 28 years old, has reached his sporting maturity in a season where he has gradually grown. Last week, at the Cantonese Grand Prix in A Coruña, he achieved his personal record five years later with 1h18:58. The Madrid walker reached his third European Championship after winning silver at Berlin 2018 and bronze at Munich 2022.
The third athlete is from Granada Alberto Amezcua, a walker with a long international career who, at 32 years old, is making his fourth continental appearance. This year he stopped the clock in 1h19:44, close to his personal best of 1h19:28 from last year at the World Championships in Budapest, where he was eleventh.
The women’s team is leading here Laura Garcia-Carowho gave a great exhibition in A Coruña with fifth place in a test where he achieved a personal best of 1h27:19, second all time, improving almost a minute on the previous one, which was 1h28.07 in 2021.
García-Caro overcame a long period of downtime due to health problems caused by COVID and achieved silver at the Spanish Championships in Zaragoza (1h29:03) and produced two excellent runs in the mixed relay, both at the Criterium of Valencia and in Antalya, where together with two-time world champion Álvaro Martín they won third place and the Olympic place for Spain.
The team also includes the veteran Rachel Gonzalez, reaching his fourth European Championship at the age of 34, ten years after his first appearance in Zurich 2014, where he was tenth. In the last continental event, at Munich 2022, he was European runner-up in the 35 km.
This season, he has only raced a few times. First achieved bronze in Zaragoza, at the Spanish Championship (1h29:07), and then formed a duo with Diego García Carrera in the mixed relay at the Valencia Criterium.
The Catalan completes the team Cristina Montesinos, 29 years old, who in just two years, and five years running, has become part of the national and therefore world elite. This was his first European Championship, which he reached as Spanish champion in Zaragoza with a personal best (1h28:43) and participated in the mixed relay in Antalya, which was seventh with Alberto Amezcua). Last year, he was fifth at the World Championships in Budapest in the 35 km walking distance.
Man
20 km walk: Alberto Amezcua, Diego García Carrera and Paul McGrath
woman
20 km walk: Laura García-Caro, Raquel González and Cristina Montesinos.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
