The Spanish 1,500, is in trouble: all three have to go to the play-offs

Not a good start to track athletics for the Spanish delegation. Neither Adel Mechaal, nor Ignacio Fontes nor Mario García Romo qualified for the 1,500 meter semifinals. All three will compete in a new repechage, an extra race, to find a ticket to the next round. Only the first six of each series passed.

In a Stade de France that looked good for a morning session, the Spaniards seemed off balance. In the first race, the British Josh Kerr, world champion, took the lead in 3:35.83 and Mario García Romo was tenth in 3:37.90, far from his best mark of the season (3:35.31). The second race, run at almost the same pace, was won by Ethiopian Ermias Girma (3:35.21). Adel Mechaal, who will also run in the 5,000, placed ninth (3:35.81), after running the distance until the final lap.

Unlike the time when the classification was closed with pass by brands, the last series was the slowest of all. It was won by the Dutchman Stefan Nillessen (3:36.77) with the clear consent of the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:37.04), the defender of the Olympic gold, who rested more than a kilometer in the last place and then, only when he had to, he pushed himself to be among the first without much effort. Along with them, the American Hobbs Kessler, the Kenyan Reynold Cheruiyot, the British Neil Gourley and the Ethiopian Samuel Tefera entered the final in the theoretically most complicated series. So much for Ignacio Fontes, who came closest to the Spaniards in achieving classification: seventh (3:37.50).

The repechage, with three Spaniards and 24 others in search of six places, will be held today at 7:15 p.m.