The second day of the Spanish National Championship sees the marching athletes engaged in the men's 10,000m track walk.
The parterre of the athletes at the start is orphaned by two important names: that of Alvaro Martin and that of Diego Garcia.
The favorite of the race is therefore Miguel Angel Lopez with his personal best on the track distance of 38:06.28 (obtained in Gijon on 24.7.2016) which in the land of Spain also represents the second all time best performance behind that result under the fateful wall of 38:00 (37:53.09) obtained by that sacred monster of the race walking of Spain, Francisco “Paquillo” Fernandez, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife almost fourteen years ago now (27.2.2008).
Miguel Angel Lopez should have to contend for the victory with the catalan Ivan Lopez who is the only one, in addition to Miguel Angel Lopez, of the starter lot to have a personal best of less than 40:00.
But as often happens this prediction will be totally denied by the progress of the race, which in any case will be enthusiastic and with many reversals of the scene.
Quite fast start of the group of leaders led by Miguel Angel Lopez and including Manuel Bermudez, Alvaro Lopez, Marc Tur, Ivan Lopez and Paul McGrath.
Unitl at 3,000m is Miguel Angel Lopez who sets the pace with these splits:
- 1.000m in 3:58.31
- 2.000m in 7:59.40 (4:01.09)
- 3.000m in 12:04.99 (4:05.59)
Manuel Bermudez realizes that the pace for him today is too slow and takes Miguel Angel Lopez in the lead with a covered 1,000m in 3:58.53.
These are his splits up to the middle of the race:
- 4.000m in 16:03.52 (3:58.53)
- 5.000m in 20:04.51 (4:00.59)
In the meantime, the jury has already expressed its negative verdict on Pedro Conesa who will be immediately stopped in the penalty area for one minute, but who will then decide to stop racing.
Marc Tur and Ivan Lopez both have a red card against them, the first for the knee extension, the second for the accentuated flight phase.
However, it is Marc Tur himself who takes the lead of the race leaders at 6,000m with these splits:
- 6.000m in 24 04.88 (4:00.37)
- 7.000m in 28:02.03 (3:57.15) a passage that leaves its mark and begins to establish values in the fight for medals.
At 8,000m, however, the situation changed again.
Manuel Bermudez, on a clear day of grace, returns to the lead just as Ivan Lopez disunites in an attempt not to lose ground and is first invited to stop in the penalty area and then with the arrival of the fourth red card has been DQed.
In the last 2,000m the leadership of Manuel Bermudez consolidates and flies towards a victory that the 24-year-old athlete from Spain achieves with a time that shatters the recent personal best obtained in Murcia on 7 May last (40:05.13).
This time Manuel Bermudez is able to go below the 40:00 wall stopping the clock in 39:43.56 whic is the 10 Spanish all-time performance just behind Diego Garcia (39:37.1h) and in front of Miguel Angel Prieto (39:51.1h ), another monument of the race walk of Spain: an opponent of Damilano and Marin in the eighties.
Behind him five athletes arrive within 41 seconds.
Second place to Alvaro Lopez in 40:06.08
Third place to Marc Tur in 40:19.07
Fourth place to Jose Manuel Perez in 40:31.18
Fifth place to Miguel Angel Lopez in 40:37.57
Sixth place to Paul McGrath (born on 7.3.2002) in 40:47.41 new personal best (previous of 42:26.11 obtained in Nairobi on 21.8.2021)
The comparison with the same race in Italy in Rieti is merciless, where only two athletes finished below 41:00. In tennis we would say Spain vs Italy 6-2