The gigantic stages are far away, the Olympic Games and the World Cups where long ago Abascal, González, Cacho or Estévez made tradition, Spain and the 1,500 meters, 1,500 meters and Spain, but in the simplicity of the Indoor European Games there are men who are doing a little path that who knows, maybe one day .... Two years ago the bronze in Glasgow was resurrection and yesterday a silver and bronze double in Torun magnified the future.

With the controversial disqualification of the winner, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, finally only the Polish Marcin Lewandowski finished ahead of Jesús Gómez and Ignacio Fontes and no one can deny their dreams for Tokyo, whether they include a final, a diploma or even a medal.

Of very different origins, Gómez being a late talent from the country and Fontes a promising child of a university family, both are supposed to be growing.

Yesterday, in the final of 1,500, the two noticed the initial attack of Ingebrigtsen and Lewandowski and, although they reacted differently, the two reacted: Gómez hooked the couple to the same finish line and Fontes waited for the last straight to enter fourth .

In the mixed zone, in fact, Fontes regretted not having followed Gómez and being left off the podium, but in the privacy of the dressing room both celebrated the double.

At press time, the outcome of Ingebrigtsen's claim was still unknown, but the reason for his disqualification was already clear.

In the first lap, the favorite, the double European champion in the open air, stepped outside the track to avoid the Polish Michal Rozmys and the judges understood that he had taken advantage with that movement.

According to the Norwegian's appeal, he was pushed by Rozmys and simply avoided the fall.

Be that as it may, even if the European Appeal Jury decided at dawn to return the gold to Ingebrigtsen, the performance of Gómez and Fontes confirmed the disinhibition of a generation with a distance that for Spain was already beginning to grow moldy.

After a few years in which many long distance runners were slowed down by the weight of history, the pressure that was supposed to keep Spain in the 1,500 meters medal tables, now both are making way.

Gómez, a senior mechanic manufacturing technician, country man, cereal worker on his family's land in Castellanos de Castro, 30 kilometers from Burgos, until he discovered popular careers only six years ago - he is 29 - recalls the long distance runners from the past, with roots always in the land, and Fontes is seen as one of the long distance runners of the future.

Chosen 'Best Athlete of School Age in 2014' by the Higher Sports Council, his progression has followed step by step the path marked out, including many training medals, a scholarship to train in Canada from the Amancio Ortega Foundation and his medical studies - the profession of his grandfather and father - at the University of Granada.

His double straightened out a lopsided opening for Spain.

Orlando Ortega absent and the 4x400 broken, two of the national team's best arguments in recent championships, failed María Vicente, sprinters Samuel García and Lucas Búa and, above all, Álvaro de Arriba, who was defending his title in the 800 meters.

Vicente, only 19 years old, made three voids in the length and did not even finish the pentathlon, García and Búa were caught in a 400-meter mousetrap eliminatory and De Arriba made an improper error.

In his series of the 800 meters he was delayed and, when he wanted to react, he was already out of the final.

The four disappointments hid the odd joy of the younger athletes.

In the 1,500 meters, Spain managed to qualify for the final three runners, the aspiring Esther Guerrero, Marta Pérez and the twenty-something Águeda Muñoz, and in the 800 meters the twenty-something Daniela García also sneaked into the semifinals.

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