Not for expected causes less emotion. asier martinez is the new European king of the 110 meter hurdles. Continental gold, sixth Spanish medal in the championships, for a tremendous athlete who knows no ceiling. After the world bronze in Eugene he arrived as a great favorite at the event. But the Navarrese is an iceberg and he does not know about pressure or stress. He again makes a personal mark (13.14) to beat the defending champion, the Frenchman Pascal Martinot-Lagarde by only one thousandth. The bronze goes to Kwaou-Matehy, also French, with 13.33. Quique Llopis, the cross, fails at the second fence and finishes seventh. Today could also be his day.
The final holds a typical Asier race. Lagging behind at the start, he increases the revolutions until he reaches the smooth zone at his highest speed. By then Martinot-Lagarde seems too far away. But nothing is too far away for Asier Martínez, and if he doesn’t shy away from Grant Holloway’s colossal figure, he’s going to do it at the Olympiastadion…
But you have to go back a bit, because the day has started for him a couple of hours before. His first position in the European ranking of the season exempts him from playing the first qualifying series last Tuesday, as well as Enrique Llopis, so both begin their competition at the Olympiastadion in a semi-final that takes place the same afternoon in the that the medals have to be played.
In that round, Asier coincides with the British Andrew Pozzi, with whom he lived in Tokyo for the most tense ten minutes of his life while they both awaited confirmation of their pass to the final by times. The short-sighted Spaniard had to strain his eyes to the maximum to confirm that the lowercase ‘q’ appeared next to his name and breathe from him. Everything is easier in Munich, where Asier allows himself the luxury of stopping before crossing the finish line in first position. His time, 13.25, anticipates a great day. And there is a surprise. The semifinals bring Llopis into the equation, who destroyed his personal best to win the third series with 13:30, the third Spaniard in history only behind Orlando Ortega and Asier himself. Ahead of mythical figures such as Carlos Sala, Javier Moracho or Jackson Quiñonez.
Once in the final, the danger for the Spanish comes from France. The young Sasha Zhoya (20 years old, 13.17 this season, the same as the Spanish) and the veteran Martinot-Lagarde (31 years old, current champion, the only one of all those registered with a mark of less than 13 seconds, another competitive animal) are frightening ). Asier starts from 4th street. Llopis, from 6th. Both as escorts for Martinot-Lagarde. The Frenchman, seasoned in a thousand fights, takes the lead. Like the great champions, he exhibits the best version of himself when it really matters. But Asier is also a great champion. And he runs, and suffers, with his head always looking to the ground, to catch the Frenchman and chase glory.
Asier, again having trouble seeing the screen, bursts with joy at seeing himself first. And he thinks back to his last year and a half, the time since his first stellar appearance at the European Indoor Championships in Torun, where he finished fourth. He was not yet twenty years old and a bad start stole the medal from him. He was four hundredths of the bronze. By then he was already sporting that serious and carefree plant that is now a trademark of the house. Naturally nervous, the Navarrese strives to maintain that relaxed pose before the race to avoid twitching. Asier also taught it the following summer, no less than in the Olympic final in Tokyo. He was sixth. The surprise had become a promise, and the promise came true just a month ago, in the Hayward Field of Oregon, temple of the American sprinters whom the Navarrese admires so much. There, with that impenetrable face, Asier attended the injury in the warm-up of the Olympic champion, the Jamaican Hansle Parchment, and the disqualification for jumping from the studs one thousandth before the allowed of the American Devon Allen, best record of the year. Those two casualties, he himself admits, put that world bronze on a platter. But also, it is fair to say, they showed that the best of the athlete is not in his legs, but in his head. At 21, it would have been just as easy to have been devoured by the pressure within seconds of the starting gun.
Those spotlights did not dazzle him, and on his way home he made a reset to go to this European without ballast, aware that he will never again be a cover but, on the contrary, the rival to beat, the reference. He also aims to be one off the track, although he claims he does not have the soul of a leader. Despite his youth, he has spoken clearly before the Spanish Federation about the absence of certain athletes on the list for the European Championship. His studies of Politics or his philosophical readings also weigh there. One’s own opinion, the ethics of competition, respect for the athlete… The basics of his training.
Asier already knows what awaits him when he returns home. Firecrackers, flares, manteos and the affection of an entire town, Zizur Mayor, who has entered that map of towns recognized and recognizable for their sports stars*. And then rest, reading, meetings with the crew. And immediately the return to training, to the long conversations with Fran Beoringyan, his coach and compadre. About technique, mental blocks or rap, what else does he give. Because in the background the World Cup in Budapest appears, which is not that far away either. And a little further, although already very present, the Paris Games, the great objective, where it will really be necessary to mess it up.
