The panic had already taken over the team when the surprise came, Orlando Ortega was receiving the bronze in the 110 meters hurdles, and suddenly the spirits in the Ezdan hotel in Doha, the base of Spain in this World Cup, changed. From "Who will save this now?" It was changed to "Who will be next?"; The question is very different. Two years ago, at the London World Cup, the team left without medals for the first time in its history, and the threat of a second edition of emptiness vanished. Now there is only dream.

Another medal would raise this selection and confirm the transformation of Spanish athletics in recent years. From the depression of gray times and disappointments to this era of joy and hopeful young people. Not counting the closing of Sunday, to which Spain could appear even without participants - it depends on the 1,500 meters and the 4x400- relay, in the next two days, this Friday and this Saturday, it will accumulate up to five successful candidates, all part of the new generation. In all cases the possibilities are reduced, they must compete against some of the best athletes ever, but if Ortega ended up on Thursday with a medal in his neck, what could not happen in the next few hours?

Fernando Carro

In the 3,000 meters obstacles, for example, the first podium option in chronological order (this Friday at 8:45 p.m.), Fernando Carro, promises the impossible: beat the Africans. As one of the only two Europeans in the final, he will first try to sustain the speed of the Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali, the Ethiopians Getnet Wale, Chala Beyo and Lamecha Girma and the Kenyan Benjamin Kigen and then take advantage of their mistakes to conquer the skies . «I want to be in the final part of the race with them and have the possibility of dreaming», analyzed the obstacle that has wanted so much to approach the Africans this year that he has even put one of his names. At the Diamond League meeting in Monaco, Kigen wanted to advise him of life, told him to buy a house, that at 27 he should already be the father of two or three children and that he needed another name: now it is done call Fernando Kipkemoi.

Martín, García and Lopez

His admiration for his rivals, so, so good, is something he shares with the rest of possible Spanish medalists, for example, the three representatives this Friday in the 20 kilometers march (22.30 hours): Álvaro Martín, Diego García and Miguel Ángel López . They are the current European champion and runner-up and the 2015 world champion, but under the conditions that will compete, under the embarrassment of the Doha waterfront, they will yield favoritism to Japanese and Chinese to try to surprise. «The humidity benefits them because they live with it, but they have also improved a lot. Before they were very fast, but they failed because they could not read the race, they came out too strong and fell apart. Not now, ”Garcia said he acknowledged that it will be difficult, but what precedents there are. Four years ago, without going any further, Lopez won the gold from the Chinese at his own home, at the 2015 World Cup in Beijing.

Peleteiro

Then Ana Peleteiro was still in progress, who this Saturday (19.35 hours), as Spain's last option in the World Cup, must prove its maturity. Like Carro and the marchers, some adversaries come forward, but in competition they always jump more than expected. In his case, his training partner, the Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas, seems unattainable, the Jamaican Shanieka Ricketts is in great shape and the Colombian Caterine Ibargüen cannot be ruled out, but a contest is usually more open to surprises. «I am happy with the sensations. This year the head has failed me for personal problems and leaving them aside makes me feel very proud », recognized Peleteiro who should approach her record of Spain (14.73 meters) to be her second Spanish medalist or, at that point, who knows , maybe the third.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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