Iñaki Cañal came out of the Orense National Indoor Track with a fourth place, an Asturias record, a World Cup minimum and a more than probable inclusion in the national 4×400 meter relay. An outstanding performance that could have been a tuition if the medal that he grazed yesterday in the 400-meter final had arrived, to which he arrived diminished by gastroenteritis. Cañal’s performance, Bea Álvarez’s bronze medal in 3000 meters the day before, and Talia Mara Pérez Dambrauskas’s record and participation in the 200-meter final were the most outstanding chapters of the Principality’s athletes in the Championship from Spain.
The sprinter from Gijón had achieved the passport for Belgrade on Saturday morning with his minimum (46.23) and best mark in history for an Asturian athlete, but to use it individually he needed to finish in the first two positions in the final. Hortelano took the gold and Cañal finished in a bittersweet fourth position and a great time (46.63). However, fate still had a pirouette in store for him. And it is that Guijarro, who yesterday entered second, was momentarily disqualified for stepping on the adjoining street in the first stages of the race. The medal went automatically to the man from Gijón, but the Barcelona athlete’s claim was successful.
The other Asturian quattrocentista in action in Orense, group rider Manuel Bea, achieved a time of 47.63, just one second more than Cañal, whom he could not accompany for this reason in the final.
lack of gas
For her part, Talia Mara Pérez from Oviedo met her goals of entering the final of the double hectometer in Galicia and signed a championship from more to less. She started with the Asturias record in qualifying rounds (24.29), but in the semifinals (24.34) and in the final, perhaps as a result of her efforts, she lacked gas (24.75).
María Piñera, from Gijón with a Soria license, was last in the 1,500-meter final and was the best (4:28) on the list of Asturian middle-distance runners.
The only Asturian jumper present, and recent U-23 national medalist, Ignacio Bernardo, did not have his day and could not cross the two meters (1.98), closing the list of finalists. The Asturians missed Cobián, the injured long jumper.
