The Spanish athlete Asier Martínez was proclaimed champion of Europe this Wednesday in Munich (Germany) in the 110-meter hurdles, beating the favorite and defending champion Frenchman Pascal Martinot-Lagarde by one thousandth.
Martínez achieved the sixth medal for Spain at the European Athletics Championships, following his incredible progression, World bronze medal last month, in a perfect mix of technique and talent. Also Spanish Enrique Llopis finished seventh.
The Navarrese does not fail every time he has the option of savoring glory, even if it means overcoming himself. He did it at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where he was sixth as a debutant, and also to be third in the world at the Eugene event (United States).
At 22 years old, Martínez broke another ceiling by measuring himself in a tremendous face-to-face with Martinot-Lagarde, champion four years ago in Berlin. Zizur’s player touched the first fence again, as in the World Cup, and this time he took some more, but also the Frenchman.
The Spaniard, on lane 4, did not lose the tone of the race and stayed in a heads up for gold with the Frenchman, on lane 5, whom he surpassed by one thousandth in the Munich Olympics. A photo-finish finish and a 13.14 to lower his personal best once again, another Spain U-23 record and on another great stage, despite being in his sixth international appearance.
And this time it was something different, because Martínez could also be considered a favorite but the Navarrese began to respond as such from a semifinal that he won comfortably. The podium was closed by the French Just Kwaou-Mathey, while the Spanish Quique Llopis did derail in a couple of touches with the fences.
The 22-year-old from Valencia stumbled over the second fence and the next one, unable to straighten out the race and seeing his finish cut short. Llopis had allowed himself to dream of winning his semi-final and advancing with the third fastest time, but at least he remains the European finalist, the seventh best on the Old Continent.
