García Romo, Katir and Fontes have managed to qualify and will compete this Sunday
Romo was fifth with 3:35.43, a new personal record
the salmentino Mario García Romo and the Murcian Mohamed Katir by positions, and Ignacio Fontes from Granada by times, qualified this Saturday for the semifinals of 1,500 meters of the Eugene World Championships forming a full Spanish for the penultimate round, which will be played this Sunday.
Fontes, whose initial exclusion from the team caused great controversy in Spain because he had finished ahead of Adel Mechaal in the Nerja nationals, was the first to compete here. In the initial series, the man from Granada marched in the center of a group launched by the Africans. He had a stumble with the defending champion, the Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot, without consequences, and was always well placed.
Ethiopian Samuel Tefera changed in the 500 and cleaned up the race. Fontes gave the impression of being left over in the last straightcontrolling his rivals, but in the last meters they passed him by two, taking him out of the six direct qualifying positions, although his time of 3:36.69 gave him, along with seventh place, one of the six play-off places.
Then it was the turn of the champion of Spain, Mario García Romo, who made his debut in the national team and in the World Cups. He knew the track well, where he was recently second in the NCAA, and he was lucky to share the race with the Olympic champion, the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who took the lead from the shot.
Romo was running inside the top six, but the tranquility was broken with the attack of the Australian Stewart McSweyn in the 600. He broke the race and won with a fast 3:34.91. The Spaniard was fifth with 3:35.43, a new personal record. The best 6 of each series passed and another 6 by times.
Finally, Katir, the Spanish record holder, intervened, who had to expend some strength to improve his backward position in the first lap. At the sound of the bell he placed third and It ended very fair but with a direct semifinalist placesixth with 3:39.45, by a single hundredth.