For a single thousandth of a second, 137 against 138, for less than a breath, with the same time as his French rival, Asier Martínez was crowned king of Europe in the 110 meter hurdle. The Navarrese athlete beat Pascal Martinot-Lagarde in an epic final, side by side, from the start to the very finish line. A continental gold that adds to the world bronze that was hung just a month ago in Eugene.
The Spanish festival of the hurdles could not be complete due to the 7th place finish of Quique Llopis, who stumbled after throwing the second and third hurdles, after dreaming of a second metal in the semifinals.
Not even the most optimistic ventured two Spanish medals in the 110 meter hurdle. Yes, Asier Martínez could be considered more or less certain, with his world bronze a month ago in Eugene, for being the fastest European of the year, and without having the Americans or the Jamaicans in the tartan. But what happened to Llopis was completely unexpected: nothing foreshadowed it.
The night turned sweet at the Munich Olympic stadium in the semi-finals. Spanish dominance began from the first of the three qualifying series. Asier Martínez crushed his seven rivals, more than enough, even allowing himself to go wrong, touch the first fence and see how the Frenchman Just Kwaou-Mathey equaled him in the first meters. He left it behind with his powerful stride and stared at her with a defiant smile before crossing the finish line. His time would be the best of the 24 semi-finalists, 13:25. Gold was starting to get on track.
And perhaps it would not arrive alone, because in the third series the surprise jumped. Quique Llopis, the Valencian from Bellreguard, a contemporary of Martínez, with the best reaction of all (0.140) flew against the Frenchman Sasha Zhoya and set a time of 13.30 that put him in the final with the third time. He became the third fastest Spanish hurdler in history in the 110. Kwaou-Mathey slipped in between them, and behind him, another Frenchman, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, who preceded (5th) the Navarrese in the Tokyo Olympic Final. The Spanish-French duel for the medals was served. Eight athletes in 25 hundredths of difference.
In the final, a closed night in Munich, Martínez ran down lane four and Llopis down lane six, with the Frenchman Martinot-Lagarde separating them. Gunshot and electric reaction of the Navarrese, the best of the eight, at 0.149. Although his French neighbor was matched from the first jump over 84 centimeters. They did it together. And the next nine fences. In the last section, Martínez seemed to get ahead, but no. They were even! Approaching the finish line, they both dived, sticking their heads out, and Martinez crossed by a hair's breadth first. For a single thousandth.
For a few seconds uncertainty remained in the Olympic stadium. The stands held their breath while waiting for the judges. There was a photo finish, essential to discern the winner, which could only be known by the efficiency of the latest technology timing systems: one thousandth, 13s14.137 for the Spanish, for 13s14.138 for the French. The gold hung around Martinez's beefy neck.
The hurdlers, a species often discredited before more epic specialties (marathon, 1,500, the bottom), promise great joy. For its mixture of youth, ambition and quality. Asier Martínez (4/22/2000), a Navarrese from Zizur, a neighboring town of Pamplona, has done nothing but grow bigger since he broke into the 2020 Spanish championship in the midst of a pandemic, seizing the title that had been owned by the untouchable Orlando Ortega (31), the great reference of the specialty. The Hispanic-Cuban, injured since Tokyo, has been overshadowed by Martínez.
With the Spanish title under his arm, his growth was already unstoppable: he was 4th in the 2021 Indoor European Championships in Torun (Poland) and 4th in the 2021 Indoor World Championships in Belgrade, then qualified for the Games, with only 21 years, he got into the final and was 6th making Ortega forget. And exactly a month ago, on July 17, he received his doctorate with world bronze in Eugene (13:17), despite arriving in the US through the back door, with the 20th best mark of all the participants .
