The first day of Spain without medals or the two sighs of Dani Arce and Sara Gallego

• Profile Dani Arce, the athlete who stopped to take care of his mother: "I don't know if I take care of her or she of me"

At the finish line

screamed for the future.

Her face, pissed off;

her body, still tense;

her mind, wanting more.

At the age of 21, she had finished fourth in the 400m hurdles at the European Championships, with the podium only 11 hundredths away, and she did not seem to be enough.

Rather the complete opposite.

In her preview, her mother,

, eloquently defined the character of her daughter, for the first time a candidate for a medal: «She doesn't care about the pressure, the one who demands herself the most is herself, too much to times".

Gallego yesterday demanded glory and she was a lot, yes, perhaps too much, but the glory could have been hers.

Bronze was within her reach, perhaps even silver.

This time she overbooked.

To avoid what happened to her in the World Cup in Eugene, when she was eliminated in the semifinals due to a suicidal start, Gallego saved her strength on the counter-straight line and, upon reaching the end, a comeback was already impossible.

She in the curve she entered seventh and left fourth, there is nothing.

But the gold had owner, the Dutch

, lightning, again under 53 seconds, and the silver and bronze had already escaped, for the Ukrainians

and

.

Just a month ago, the frustration of not being in the final brought Gallego to tears in the bowels of Eugene's Hayward Field.

This Friday at the Munich Olympic Stadium she did not go to that extreme, but she was still not satisfied.

Like everything else, her character screamed future.

Her medal will come sooner rather than later.

Maple's frustration

's medal will come

, even if he doesn't believe it now.

A few minutes before Gallego's 400-meter hurdles, in the 3,000-meter hurdles, Arce experienced the same misfortune: he was also fourth, he was also stronger.

Although in his case it was the Finn

and the Italians

and

those who left him were from the podium.

Although in his case it will be more difficult for him to return.

At 30 years old, Arce experienced the appointment as the opportunity of a lifetime for him.

"I'm pissed off because I could be there, I know I could be there," he acknowledged in the mixed zone and almost, almost, was.

Throughout the race he was the best placed, behind the army of Italians, protected, waiting, but on the last lap he had two stumbles with other rivals, lost a couple of meters with the leading runners and the podium was removed forever.

After a lifetime waiting for this European, after overcoming a personal battle with nerves, after abandoning almost everything to take care of his mother Pilar, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Arce was one step away from success and one step away he stayed.

«I was very good and I have always been very fresh, but because of those slips I have not been able to fight», he analyzed with a sigh in his soul.

The best season of his life, the best non-African in the Eugene World Cup, could not end with a celebration with his family, especially with his mother, in Burgos.

At his age, he doesn't have as much margin as Gallego, but he will be again.

There is no room for drama.

the first void

As it should not be in Spain either: this Friday was the first day in this European without a medal.

But equally the selection walks firm in the championship.

With his seven medals (two gold, three silver and two bronze) he has hardly been able to count disappointments.

If anything, the fourth place of

in the long jump, the elimination of

in the 1,500 meters and the goodbye of

this Friday in the semifinals of the 800 meters.

The rest, success after success, heading for history: right now the team is sixth in the medal table, one gold away from third place, an honor they have not achieved for more than a decade.

Countries like Poland, Norway, the Netherlands or Italy still have many options for a gold medal, but so does Spain.

This same Saturday, in the 20 km walk, I could applaud two more champions, and on Sunday,

is the top favorite in the 800 meters, he will run against himself.

In addition, the two 4x400 relays and the women's 4x100 relay could also reach the podium, to complete an excellent championship.

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