He jumped alongside the European mascot as he crossed the finish line as marathon champion. Grinning from ear to ear, he dropped off his furry new friend and indulged himself to a euphoric audience. He had enough air left to help stretch the cramped legs of one of his compatriots, exhausted on the asphalt. And finally he melted into a hug with his partner. Seeing his energy, few would say that Richard Ringer had just stopped his time in 2h10m21s after traveling 42.2 km marked by high temperatures and a finish to remember, where the German culminated a tremendous last few meters.
With just over a kilometer to go, the Spaniard Ayad Lamdassem, one of the favorites who finally came sixth (2h10m52s), succumbed to the attack of the German Amanal Petros, who seemed to escape for the victory together with Maru Teferi. The Israeli changed the rhythm when he was already scanning the finish line and the victory seemed his, but then Ringer appeared like an exhalation from nowhere to snatch the glory with a prodigious sprint.
Teferi, already without the strength to counteract the threat that hung over his back, could only watch as Ringer enjoyed his moment while Gashau Ayale, also from Israel, closed the podium after beating a Petros without energy. Fifth was the French Nicolas Navarro, from less to more in the decisive section, and finally Lamdassem appeared, who after fifth place in the Tokyo Games was once again left with honey on his lips.
The 40-year-old veteran runner started with the best mark of the participants, the 2h06m25s of his Spanish record achieved in February in Seville, and it was the great Spanish asset for the medals. He repeats the history of the continental tournament edition of 2010 in Barcelona, where he also saw the podium up close with a fourth place.
He had let the World Cup pass, still without the proper form due to the physical problems suffered in the spring, and had prepared the appointment in the Bavarian capital thoroughly, with hard training in the heights of the Atlas Mountains, his homeland. But in the last kilometers of the marathon his rictus twisted, more fatigued than he had estimated by the outbursts of the German and Israeli runners, his companions in the final leading group.
Lamdassem, who even led the race adequately in the opening kilometres, was brave with an attack at kilometer 36 that reduced the medal contenders to five. However, the rhythm and the speculation between the candidates caused Ringer to link up, in the end the strongest rival. At kilometer 41, when hostilities began, the Spaniard saw how the medal option was lost on the horizon, unable to follow the stride of his rivals.
By then, several minutes had passed since the rest of the Spanish candidates had dropped off the hook. Yago Rojo had stayed in a second group at kilometer 25 and an attack by Ayale with 10 kilometers to go caused them to lose contact with the lead Jorge Blanco, finally twelfth, and Dani Mateo, fourteenth, just ahead in the goal of a Red who finished fifteenth.
Lamdassem arrived disappointed at the end of the test, but his time together with Blanco and Mateo caused Spain to hang the team bronze medal (6h38m44s), only surpassed by Germany (6h35m52s) and the best time of Israel (6h31m48s). In the women's marathon event, the Spanish delegation took the silver for teams (7h39m25s) behind the Germans thanks to the performance of Elena Loyo (18th), Irene Pelayo (16th) and especially the Catalan Marta Galimany (2h31m14s), eleventh in a race won by the Polish Aleksandra Lisowska (2h28m36s) ahead of the Croatian Matea Parlov and the Dutch Nienke Brinkman.
