Bruno Hortelano has announced he is returning to competition on 19 May when he will race over 400m in Tenerife.
This will be Hortelano’s first race in nearly two years after missing the entirety of the last season due to injuries sustained in a car crash just after the Olympic Games in 2016. Hortelano was hoping to make a return during the indoor season but illness forced him to delay his return to racing.
Hortelano might be untested in a competitive environment but he did reveal he clocked a 33.2 time trial indoors over 300m in training in November. Not only was that time marginally faster than his lifetime best of 33.46, it was also his first time running in spikes since the Olympic Games.
Y el lugar será:
— Bruno Hortelano (@BrunoHortelano) May 8, 2018
¡TENERIFE, ISLAS CANARIAS!
El 19 de mayo correré un 400m #NuncaDejesDeSoñar pic.twitter.com/SlIcLaprhZ
Under the tutelage of coach Adrian Durant, Hortelano has been training in Sant Cugat, near Barcelona ahead of the summer campaign alongside one-lap specialist Samuel Garcia. His preparations will be focused on the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships where he will line up as the reigning champion in the 200m.
In one of the most memorable moments of the championships in Amsterdam two years ago, Hortelano only found out he had been promoted in the mixed zone after Churandy Martina was disqualified for a lane infringement. Among those Hortelano beat included the soon-to-be world champion Ramil Guliyev from Türkiye.
Hortelano will cross paths with Martina again at the start of next month. He is also confirmed for the FBK Games in Hengelo on 3 June when he will contest his specialist event in what is poised to be a repeat of the 2016 European Championships final.
Not only did Hortelano win the European title in 2016, he was also fourth in the 100m final and set five Spanish records over 100m and 200m, including a 20.12 clocking in the 200m heats at the Olympic Games.
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.