• Previous.The sequels of the women's marathon: "It ran beyond the limit"

The lungs are grateful for the change of sensations, from Friday's drowning to Saturday's breeze, and one of the medical leaders of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) walks through the Corniche refreshment area, the Doha waterfront, as who celebrates a goal: "The humidity has dropped to 70%!" Someone has ajar the door of this sauna. But like the women's marathon, the 50-kilometer march of the World Cup is once again an exercise in survival: the fastest are no longer rewarded if not those who tolerate this environment better. In the test that the IAAF most feared for its duration - about four hours -, the meteorological relief prevents the exaggeration of fainting and withdrawal from the interior day, but competing here remains almost impossible.

The winner of the men's test, the Japanese Yusuke Suzuki , finished shattered in four hours and four minutes, the worst time in the history of the World Cups, and the female winner, the Chinese Rui Liang , exceeded her best personal mark in 20 minutes : finished in four hours and 23 minutes. The Spanish José Ignacio Díaz , who had to retire, summed up perfectly what happened: "It was a walk. We weren't competing, we were slower than in a smooth shoot. It doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense." The coaches of the team recognized that the images of the women's marathon 24 hours before had convinced them to adopt the most conservative strategy possible and thus, the results: there was no medal, but there were two positions of merit.

In the men's event, the eternal marcher stood out: Jesús Ángel García Bragado . At 49, in his thirteenth World, he again offered a master class in rhythm management, career study, and in comeback as always finished eighth. The legs no longer grant the speed with which he won the 1993 World Cup - 16 years ago! - but still allow ambitious goals. García Bragado wanted to be in the Tokyo 2020 Games with 50 years and this Saturday he secured a place. Upon reaching the finish line, exhausted, he refused medical help to lean on a fence and wait. In a few minutes he had to finish his training partner, Julia Takacs , the apprentice who takes him out of his boxes because "rarely" he listens and wanted to know his final position and his feelings.

In the end he finished eighth, like him, after a final stretch in which he tried to accelerate and could not. The doubt will remain forever, what if it had been more ambitious at first? Although in such conditions another strategy could have led to withdrawal. The European champion last year in Berlin decided to let the brave men who raved in the first 10 kilometers escape and in the end some of them beat him: along with Liang the Chinese Maocuo Li and the Italian Eleonora Anna Giorgi also took the podium.

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