The marathon dominated by the new Abbe Bikila, the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, had a Spaniard on the medals until the last kilometer.
It is Ayad Lamdassem, another representative of 39 years who enroll among the finalists of the delegation in the Games, thanks to its fifth place in the strenuous Sapporo circuit, where humidity has led to markers and marathonhouses to the camera of horrors.
The others were the Canoeist Teresa Portela, Bronze, and Sandra Sánchez, gold in Karate.
All exemplary careers.
The one of Lamdassem also involved a country change, a leak, after abbathing a team of his country in search of a better life.
Looking at the sky of Japan, in the goal, he gave thanks.
The medal did not arrive, as had happened with marathonians, but his performance was remarkable.
He endured the selections of athletes to which the Kipchoge train submitted to the test.
The Kenyan ordered an imperial way, from start to finish, without requesting or asking for relay, and ended up in 2: 08.38.
It was his race, it was his gold and at all he feared.
Kipchoge ran like when he did it at 5,000 or 10,000.
He was bronze and silver, respectively, in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 in the shortest distance.
In Rio, she has already hung gold in marathon.
In these games, she reigns at 36, three less than Lamdassem.
Few similar exhibitions, by authority, recalls the Olympic marathon.
If the Bikila, who won in Rome’60, barefoot under the arch of Constantine, and repeated precisely here, in the Tokyo Games of 1964. From Ethiopian to Kennian, reigns the African altiplanicie in the same place.
He was followed by the ABDI Nageeye and Bashir Abdi podium, nationalized Dutch and Belgian, respectively.
The second encouraged the third to beat Kenyan Lawrence Cherono.
With those men, Lamdassem left in a selection that was already definitive to define the fight for the medals, towards km 30. I went with an ideal race rhythm, but in the marathon nothing is what it seems.
The truth always comes to km 40. So, the last change of Africans has already unbearable for Spanish.
He entered into a physically decomposed goal but smiling despite the fifth place of him.
He does not know chocolate for this fondist veteran.
He knows to life, new life.
Lamdassem came to run a university marathon to Santiago de Compostela.
When he was in the hostel, he picked up his passport, he left and no longer returned.
A time later, in 2002, he appeared for Lleida.
They had been told that there was a coach that could help him.
He was a policeman.
Antonio Cánovas has told the story to those who have asked him, although Lamdassem, his athlete, was far from the spotlights.
Born in Sidi Ifni, he had been able to nationalize thanks to the brands of him, in 2007, and a year later, he ran into Beijing’s games.
He repeated in London, although always beyond the number twenty.
This season was going to be different, as his coach had warned.
The reason was that in previous years, Lamdassem had played many races, marathons and other, to earn money with him to feed his family.
He has three children.
The pandemic stopped them and the athlete was able to train almost exclusively with Tokyo as a target.
The Spanish Fondist, of Moroccan origin, spent periods at the Font Romeu station for height training, accumulated up to 280 km weekly and made “rolls” up to 40, with rhythm changes to simulate tactical careers.
In 2020, in Valencia, he beat his record of Spain, with 2: 06.35.
The jump was evident.
After the Moroccan, in Sapporo, Dani Mateo (Post 21) and Javi War (33) completed the test that closes the athletics of the Games, in which Spain, despite a single bronze, by Ana Peleteiro in Triple, has set up
Score the second best games in your story, with a medal and 10 finalists.
