Mohamed Katir and Adel Mechaal, without being eliminated in the semi-finals, Mario García Romo from Salamanca will be alone in the face of danger this wednesday At 21:15 in the second 1,500m final of an outdoor World Cup.
In the harshness of a town of only 200 inhabitants, such as Villar de Galimazo (about 10 km from Peñaranda de Bracamonte), and hardened by the harsh and cold winters, Spanish champion of the outdoors ‘milqui’ in 2022, never afraid of challenges no matter how large and complex they may seem.
He was always amazed as a child. He won races and was the most competitive in studies as well, and eventually left. He went to the United States where he graduated in Chemistry from the University of Mississippi ‘Ole Miss’ (Alabama).. There he took very solid steps, leaving behind the ninth place in the U20 European Championships in 2017 and the 22nd in the U20 World Cups the following year.
Mario García Romo won the silver medal behind Belgian Verheyden in the European U-23 match and shined last year by earning miles in the NCAA and being second in the three and three quarter laps around the track. At about 1,600 meters above sea level, he was training under Dathan Ritzenheim at the prestigious ‘On Running’ in Boulder (Colorado). So in 2023, the Spanish champion took bronze at the European Championship in Munich and fourth place at the World Cup in Eugene.
Inseparable Yared Nuguse, only 28 days younger than him, trains with him (both 24 years old) and the son of Ethiopian immigrants born in Louisville, Kentucky, where the legendary Muhammad Ali was born.
He joined the media as soon as he passed the semi-finals. Mario García and Nuguse greeted each other outside the stadium and parted together. “We never talk about races, so we won’t talk about the final”, the man from Salamanca commented after the qualifiers. The American, who agreed to take a photo with his training friend, said, “He is my friend, but we are rivals on Wednesday.”
However, the real common competitor will be Jakob Ingebrigtsen. A year younger than them, the ‘troll’ (a kind of ‘coconut’ for Scandinavians) will go out for a universal gold that resists him (it fell into the hands of the vanquished Englishman Jake Wightman in Eugene), as well as inside (the Ethiopian in Belgrade) Samuel could not defeat Tefera).
With two European ‘doubles’ outdoors (1,500 and 5,000) and indoor track (1,500 and 3,000), norway favorite…but beware of Kenyans Abel Kipsang and Cheruiyot, other Norwegians (Boras), British Josh Kerr and Gourley…