Asier Martínez is proclaimed champion in the 110 meter hurdles at the European Championships in Munich

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asier martinez added the second gold and the sixth medal for Spain in the Munich Europeanin a 110 meter final fences in which he disputed the victory in an exciting one-on-one with the current European champion until last night, the French Pascal Martinot-Lagarde. The Navarrese had to improve his personal best in top competition again to be the new continental champion with 13.14, one thousandth less than the Gallic hurdler. The Valencian Enrique Llopis finished in seventh position.

The Navarrese, European Under-23 champion a year ago in Tallinn, faced the final in Munich as one of the favorites for European gold, a new situation after reaching the Tokyo Games as an unknown and the World Cup held for the first time in the United States as covered. He required an extra dose of self-control and he got it.

“You couldn’t ask for more, I’m very happy. It’s been a precious experience because my father was also there, my mother couldn’t come, but all my friends did. I felt at home and I’m very happy”, said Asier Martínez in the mixed zone of the Munich Olympic Stadium.

Martínez dominated his semifinal with 13.25 and a slight headwind, and he allowed himself to go up against Frenchman Just Kwaou-Mathey, second, before crossing the finish line. It was a warning of what was going to happen in the final. The most surprising thing was that Enrique Llopis then won the third semifinal, with a personal best of 13.30. The Valencian was positioned next to the Navarrese, leader by times, as a contender for the podium by being third in the summary.

in progression

The French Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, current European champion, started as the toughest rival to beat. For Asier’s coach, Francois Beoringyan, he was a priori “one of the great favorites in the championship. It is true that he has been through an injury recently, but he has had a lot of time to prepare for this appointment & rdquor ;. The Frenchman was the only U-13 second on the starting list. “Sharing this victory with my idol, like Martinot, is incredible. I knew he was going to be the great rival, he is the oldest dog in these championships and he did race at home because he knows how to manage these moments and that’s how it has been, that He pushed hard until the end”, confessed the Navarrese after the race.

From less to more. This is the way of running and the progression of the 22-year-old Navarrese, brilliant since 2019, when he dropped below 14 seconds for the first time, 13.93, and continues to progress to 13.70 in the year of the pandemic, 13.22 at the Tokyo Games in 2021, where he achieved a surprising sixth place in the final, and this season a 13.17 in the Oregon World Cup a month ago in which he hung the bronze medal. Three hundredths less last night.

higher pressure

“I knew I was one of the possible favorites and it’s hard to get away from all that. I haven’t gained much experience before but my people have helped me a lot. In the Eugene final I was just one more. Not here, the pressure was much greater and That has conditioned everything,” he said.

The new champion has run this past season the 100 meters, without hurdles, in less than 10.60. Assured in speed, his technique and improvement at the start, with a ferocious attack at the first fence and a growing pace between the remaining nine, have made him achieve better and better records and, above all, achieved when the occasion requires it.

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The Zizur Mayor athlete and Political Science student shows signs of being a born competitor. His coach highlights the mental power and concentration of his athlete on big occasions, in which he does not shrink before those who were previously his idols, now, at least some, his victims. “What makes him unique is his intelligence and his control, his head ultimately,” says Beoringyan.

Apparently, at the Martínez-Echarte house there is no other option. Little Asier started jumping high until he won the Spanish U-18 championship, but he immediately moved to the fences, influenced by his mother, also a hurdler, and his father, also an athlete.



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