Spain has named a team of 13 race walkers for the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships from 7-12 August.
Spanish race walkers have won 14 medals in race walking in European Championships history, including a gold medal in the 20km race walk in Zurich 2014 courtesy of Miguel Angel Lopez, who also won the world title in Beijing the following season.
Lopez will return to defend his title in Berlin. He is part of a strong team which also includes reigning European U23 champion Diego Garcia, Alvaro Martin and Alberto Amezcua. All four race walkers have lifetime bests under the 1:20 mark.
The Spanish team also includes the indefatigable Jesus Angel Garcia, who will be competing in his seventh European Championships. Garcia won bronze and silver medals in the 50km race walk in 2002 and 2006 and also finished inside the top-five in 1994 and 2010.
The women’s 50km race walk will be part of the European Championships programme for the very first time in Berlin and one of the favourites for the title will be former European U23 20km race walk champion Julia Takacs.
Takacs, 28, made a notable debut at the distance at the Spanish Championships in Valencia in February, setting a national record of 4:13:04 to move to fourth on the European all-time lists. She was also the top European finisher at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships in Taicang, China where she finished eighth.
Los marchadores españoles a por todas en BerlÃn. Estos son nuestros 13 chicos y chicas que estarán en el Europeo luchando para que la marcha española siga siendo referencia mundial. ¡¡ A LUCHAR POR LAS MEDALLAS !! https://t.co/3mixtf7FwJ pic.twitter.com/DJKYqfW3Dt
— atletismoRFEA (@atletismoRFEA) June 7, 2018
More information on the 2018 European Championships:
- The Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships will be part of the first multi-sport European Championships along with co-hosts Glasgow.
- It will be a must-watch, must-attend experience that elevates the status of European Champions, uniting existing European Championships to celebrate the highest honour in European sport and celebrating the defining moments that create Champions.
- It is the continent’s ultimate multi-sport event, an 11-day celebration of European sport staged every four years.
- Seven of Europe’s leading sports (athletics, aquatics, rowing, golf, cycling, gymnastics, triathlon) will be brought together for the first edition.
- The European Athletics Championships in Berlin will be staged 7-12 August. The six other sports will be staged in Glasgow through 2-12 August.
- 4500 athletes and 52 nations will compete across the seven sports.
- Potential TV audience of over one billion with millions more across multiple digital platforms.
- Over half a million spectators expected.