Raúl Chapado, president of the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation, from Avila, assures that in an atypical period due to the accumulation of great championships, the European Championships in Munich represent “a challenge” to which they aim “finish as a country among the top five in the points table” and the challenge of overcoming ten medals and the 26 places of Berlin 2018 finalists.
Chapado (Ávila, 1970) has led the RFEA since 2016. The national team faced the event after the recent World Cup in Eugene, where two medals were achieved, eight finalists and Spain finished seventeenth among the teams, a a result that, according to the federation’s top leader, was the “best in the last fifteen years”.
Q: In what pursuits did Spain reach the European?
A: I think this championship is a challenge for the performance of the athletes, which I always trust will be good. For example, we don’t know how the UK team will be affected by having three major competitions in a row. That will have an effect. We have two and that will also have an impact and create some uncertainty or surprises within what we can predict as a federation and as a team. For better and for worse. We have a difficult challenge. In Berlin 2018 we achieved 10 medals and 26 finalist positions and our challenge must be to surpass this because in this four-year cycle the results are higher than the previous ones.
Q: In general, expectations are high on the Spanish team
A: For example, in the relay, the women’s 4×100 put on an amazing performance in Eugene but there were only 16 teams competing there. Everyone comes here and we compete one by one and we can’t have Switzerland in the first lane. For brands they are superior. The British were wounded. All those things will be complicated but the goal is to be better as a team. More than medals or finalist positions, which are of course important, the most important thing is that we give the best version as a team and for this each athlete has his own responsibility. I have no doubt that each will leave everything behind.
Q: Do you notice that we are in a moment of enthusiasm among Spanish athletes?
A: I think people, after the Tokyo Games, left with a good taste in their mouths but also with the feeling of having brought back a few more medals. That’s what hooks people, the competitive attitude of seeing the athletes, beyond the medals, that’s so important. We offer a lot of competition but not only at the absolute level. Athletics will be more complicated. Before it was based on some talent and mainly on sports structures. Now they all have sports structures so the podium is determined by talent. We see this in countries that have not emerged before, many of them are very poor. That makes athletics more complicated. Europe used to win 70 medals in a World Cup and now 40. That affects everyone. In Europe, we measure ourselves against equals. The United Kingdom, in terms of results, is probably at the top of it, the same as the Netherlands or Poland, usually specializing in launches, and we are on par with what Italy or France have done. Sometimes you’re up sometimes you’re down. The goal is to be in the top five in the points table. If we fulfill this, we have done well. That is the reality we have now. We would like to be first but we have to be realistic.
Q: Why are there no duplicating athletes?
A: In a World Cup there are ten days but in a Europoe there are fewer days and the technical and optimal recommendation is not double because the possibilities are reduced. The idea of the technical area is that this will not happen in this European in the case of Katir with 1,500 and 5,000. Sara Gallego is a member of a relay but if she makes the final of the 400 hurdles, she has to decide. In that case, Sara’s interest should come first so that she can run in the final.
Q: Twenty years ago, at the European Championships in Munich, fifteen medals were won. What does Munich mean for the Spanish team?
A: Past times. When you see the list of medalists there, I don’t think that should be the reference and I say this with all due respect to the world. It was later revealed that some of those athletes had been sanctioned. We cannot prove that they are violating doping regulations. It was a less global era. The past is the past and we need to improve the future. Our challenge now. They are references that serve as comparisons to continue to grow but appreciate the competitions and everything that has happened. The main thing now is for the team to compete well.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
