Sunday, October 13, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
| Updated 8:45 p.m.
In the middle of the Portuguese party, Judith Otazua floated after crossing the finish line in third position. She left everything in the final sprint among a cloud of legs and became the first Basque to occupy a place on the podium of the Bilbao Mile. The miles take on a festive character that in the case of local athletes is a bonus for competing and enjoying themselves in front of their audience. That motivation was what drove Galdakao to achieve the feat. «I am super happy. It is a very great emotion to be the first Basque among the best,” the Biscayan declared to EL CORREO after finishing a drink of water, still exhausted.
«I have run this race since I was little, since I was eight years old. I used to come to ask for signatures and now I am one of them. Being here today in the elite motivates a lot,” celebrated the middle-distance runner, who will finish in 2024 on an indoor track. “I don’t usually do cross country, maybe some loose, but I want to make a good ‘cover’ to prepare well for the outdoor season.” And how are you going to celebrate it? “Now I will go to eat with my parents in Bilbao but then continue training, which is what I like the most.”
Occupying the third place on the podium on Bilbao’s Gran Vía is the culmination of a campaign in which Otazua, which turns 25 on December 26, has shone with its own light. He has broken his personal bests in the 1,500 (4:13.26 in Málaga), in the 1,500 on the indoor track (4:20.65, Sabadell), in the 3,000 (9:22.13, Ourense), in the 800 (2:06.76, La Nucía) and in 1,000 (2:49.05, Antequera). Some exceptional records for the Playas de Castellón runner, bronze in the Spanish Mile Road Championship a year ago.
