It took 38 years for Spain's record of the mile, the oldest in our athletics, to cease to belong to José Luis González. In Oslo, on July 27, 1985, the Toledan made 3:47.79. And it has been in Eugene, in the final of the Diamond League, where Mario García Romo has sculpted new numbers: 3:47.69. Garcia Romo, fourth in a race set for Jakob Ingebrigtsen to beat Hicham El Guerrouj's world record (3:43.23), finished fourth.
The Norwegian was left on the verge of the Moroccan's record. His 3:43.73 is, of course, a European record and the third all-time mark, after the second of Kenyan Noah Ngeny (3:43.40). American Yared Nuguse, with 3:43.97, also dropped from 3:44.00.
Paradoxically, in the same way that the superb but insufficient performance of Ingebrigtsen enhances the figure of El Guerrouj, the triumphant of García Romo also elevates that of González, raised on the slopes in times not as technologically advanced (tracks, shoes, etc.) as the current ones. The mile is not an Olympic distance, but it enjoys immense prestige in the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic world. González at the time and now García Romo make that prestige participate in Spanish athletics.