Nerja, an important event for the World Cup and European

The elite of Spanish athletics will participate from this Friday to Sunday 26 in the 102nd edition of Spanish Championships out of Enrique López Cuenca Stadium in Nerja (Málaga), a major competition for those wishing to be, in July, in Eugene World Cups (United States) and in August the Munich Europeans (Germany).

The last day of these championships, moreover, coincides with the deadline for achieving the minimum requirements for the World Championships and also for adding points to the international rankings. ‘World Athletics’the other way to qualify for the World Cup in Oregon.

There were 782 athletes registered for the individual events (339 women and 343 men) spread across 125 clubs, of which Playas de Castellón had the largest number of participants (69) followed by FC Barcelona (60), Grupoempleo Pamplona Atlético (32), Valencia Athletics (29) and Alcampo Scorpio 71 (27).

By regional federations, Catalonia is the most represented with 127 athletes, followed by Madrid (93), Andalusia (70), Valencian Community (64) and Castilla y León (62).

Many of the champions of the last edition, held at Getafe, will defend their titles, except for María Vicente (200 meters, although she will compete in the triple and javelin), Laura Bueno (400), Natalia Romero (800), Teresa Errandonea (100m hurdles), Ana Peleteiro (triple), María Pérez (10,000m walk), Orlando Ortega (110m hurdles), Sergio Fernández (400m hurdles), Xesc Tresens (high), Odei Jainaga (javelin), Jorge Ureña (decathlon ) and Álvaro Martín (10,000m walk).

Up to eleven individual national record holders (six men and five women) will meet in Nerja, such as the cases of Bruno Hortelano in the 200 meters, Saúl Ordóñez in the 800, Mohamed Katir in the 1,500 and 5,000 m, Jordan Díaz in triple, Javier Cienfuegos in the Hammer and Miguel Ángel López in the 10,000 m walk (he is a record holder in the 35 km walk).

Among the women they were Sara Gallego in the 400m hurdles, Belén Toimil in the weightlifting, Sabina Asenjo in the discus, Laura Redondo in the hammer and María Vicente in the triple and javelin instead of in the heptathlon, the event in which she held the Spanish record.

The duel between Catalan Adel Mechaal and Murcian Mohamed Katir is one of the attractions of the competition as they are both registered in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters, where both will seek the gold medal in a spectacular duel in Nerja, which is for first time hosting Nationals.

In addition to them and Olympic finalist Ignacio Fontes (3: 37.20), eight other athletes have registration scores below 3:40, which is the case with Jorge Torre (3: 36.63) , Pol Oriach (3: 37.10), Adam Maijó (3: 38.88), Sergio Paniagua (3: 38.88), Enrique Herreros (3: 39.42), Mohamed Attaoui (3: 39.48), Fikadu González (3: 39.52) and Carlos Sáez (3: 39.73 internal).

The confrontation between Adel Mechaal (13: 06.02) and national record holder and Olympic finalist Mohamed Katir will be repeated in the twelve and a half lap of 5,000 meters.

Mechaal, the leader of the year, is seeking his third title after 2015 and 2017, while Katir has yet to make his debut. In 2021 he surrendered to Carlos Mayo (13: 51.12), who will defend his title in Nerja against a host of internationals such as Ouassim Oumaiz (13: 06.74), Abdessamad Oukhelfen (13: 22.12), Rober Aláiz (13 : 35.11), Raúl Celada (13: 40.53), Zakaria Boufaljat (13: 44.74), Nassim Hassaous (14: 03.97),

In the women’s 1,500 meters, the duel between Marta Pérez and Esther Guerrero became a classic for Spanish middle ground.

Olympic finalist Marta Pérez, who already has the minimum for Oregon and Munich at 4: 00.12 of the Tokyo final, is looking for her third outdoor gold after 2016 and 2018 and came up with a year record of 4: 07.93.

Esther Guerrero is back in style from the injury that prevented her from landing in Belgrade and achieved in Castellón the best score of the year and the lowest for the European (she already got it for the World Cup) with 4: 05.03, where in Nerja he aims to win his fourth consecutive title.

Equality is ensured in 3,000 obstacles with three athletes under 8:20: Olympic Daniel Arce, national leader with 8: 14.31, is seeking his first title, although to do so he will have to beat four -time champion and defending champion Sebastián Martos (8: 16.46) and Víctor Ruiz (8: 16.42), they were three in the best moments of their careers.

The Tokyo Olympics and Ibero-American champion Laura García-Caro want to debut her national record in the 10,000-meter walk and include the best registration mark, 43: 33.72, the sixth Spaniard in history.

Behind her, appear names like Carmen Escariz (45:26), the fully international Lidia Sánchez-Puebla (45:55) and young talents like Antía Chamosa (47:10), Alicia Lumbreras (47 : 26) or Sofía Santacreu. (47: 30.8), Spain’s new under-18 champion in the 5,000 walk with a competition record.

Spanish record holder and European champion in 2016 Bruno Hortelano will seek his fourth title, after 2013, 2015 and 2018 in the 200 meters, and he does so with the best national record of the year (20.71) in his only interaction with the distance.

One of the great tests of these championships, with up to seven applicants who will be part of one of the World Cup and European options this summer, is the 800 meters.

Leading the entry was brand-new Ibero-American champion Álvaro de Arriba, who in 2022 powdered his personal ability to place himself in tenth Spanish in history with 1: 44.85.

Only eight hundred of him came to Olympic and world finalist Adrián Ben (1: 44.93), who is also defending the title achieved at Getafe.

Also in top form were 2017 champion and world indoor bronze in 2018 Saúl Ordóñez (1: 46.24), Alberto Guerrero (1: 45.84) and Eduardo Romero (1: 46.10).

Behind is Mariano García (1: 46.37), the world champion on the indoor track and will seek his third gold in Nerja after those in 2020 and 2021, and the Olympic Pablo Sánchez-Valladares (1: 46.38).