Dehai News

The Leonese Saúl Ordóñez, winner the day before in Valladolid, was awarded this Sunday in Madrid his second urban mile, the Total Energie International Mile of Madrid, in 24 hours by beating in a closed sprint the Eritrean Yemane Haileselassie, while the Kenyan Loice Chemnung won with nine seconds of advantage.

The rain, which had soaked the asphalt since ten in the morning, accompanied the runners during almost the entire program of the competition, which took place on Serrano Street, between Goya and the Puerta de Alcalá, on a so-called Golden Mile of Madrid.

If Saturday in Valladolid was enough with a mark of 4:26, Saul Ordonez had to run much faster this Sunday to take the win in Madrid. The Bercian won here with 4:15, beating by one second To Haileselassie and by two to Dani Arce,who had been second in the Castilian-Leonese capital.

The Eritrean, runner-up of the U-20 world 3,000 meters hurdles in 2016 and fifth in the same event at the Tokyo Olympic Games, took the head of the group after the withdrawal of the "hare" and stayed up only with Ordóñez and Arce. The three of them played the victory in the sprint. Behind Sergio Jimenez came fourth (4:17), followed by Jesus Ramos (4:20), Jesus Gomez (4:22) and Adel Mechaal (4:23).

"I'm enjoying the miles a lot. I was muscularly a little heavy yesterday, but in the race I felt good. A lot of people are now charging their batteries and it's hard to know who was going to win," Ordonez said after the race.

The Leonese, bronze in the 2018 Indoor World Championships in 800 meters, is betting on the next indoor season. "I want to fight to be in the world championship, and in the summer, if everything goes well and I respect the injuries, to achieve a good form for the World Cup."

Missing the appointment was The Madrid Fernando Carro, Spanish record holder of 3,000 m obstacles, who the day before had suffered the bite of a wasp,the organizers reported.

The elite women's race had a less contested outcome. Loice Chemnung, 24, broke the race from the first lap of the circuit. The Soriana Marta Pérez, recent Olympic finalist in 1,500, made a point of going out in search of her, but gave up,reserving herself for the sprint for the second place.

The African won with a time of 4:48, ahead of Marta Pérez (4:57), the Leonese Marta García (4:58), the Girona Esther Guerrero (4:58) and the Madrid Lucía Rodríguez (5:07). Loice Chemnung was fifth at the U-20 World Championship in 2014 and this year she has run the 5,000 meters in 14:43.65.

The Toledo José Luis González, Spanish record holder of the track mile, crossed in first place under the finish banner, with a time of 6:56, in the Mile of Legends,which he shared with other old glories such as Reyes Estévez, who an hour earlier had won the popular mile with 4:34.

In second place came Ramiro Matamoros (6:57). Fermín Cacho, Martín Fiz, Jorge González Amo, Alberto Juzdado, Antonio Silio, Jesús España and Antonio Serrano, among others, also ran.

"The important thing was to enjoy," said Fermín Cacho, Olympic champion of 1,500 in Barcelona'92. "There have been no piques, only exchange of anecdotes. Madrid deserved the return of athletics in the street, "said the Soria.

The Valladolid Mayte Martínez, world bronze in 800 meters in 2007, won among the legends with 6:57, aheadof the marathoners Yesenia Centeno (6:57), Rocío Ríos (7:00), Consuelo Alonso (8:14) and Beatriz Ros (8:15).

The TotalEnergies Milla Internacional de Madrid will donate one euro of each registration made to Doctors Without Borders "with the aim that the strides of the participants go beyond the sports field," said the organization.

ELITE RACING CLASSIFICATIONS

Women

1. Loice Chemnoug – 4:48.00

2. Marta Perez – 4:57.00

3. Marta Garcia – 4:58.97

Men

1. Saul Ordonez – 4:15.74

2. Yemane Haileselassie – 4:16.57

3. Daniel Arce – 4:17.11