Four gold, three silver, and three bronze medals are all the laurels that Spain achieved at the

European Athletics Championships, which took place in Munich, Germany, this weekend. Spain

was the third country in total awards, only behind Great Britain and Germany. As for the medals,

6 out of 10 belong to UCAM athletes. Once again this shows UCAM’s commitment to sports, as

could also be seen at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, where UCAM was the university with

the highest number of athletes in the world. In addition, it is worth mentioning that many of the

athletes train at the UCAM High Performance Sports Research Centre.

European Champions

The first medal was achieved by Miguel Ángel López, who became European Champion in the

men’s 35km race walk. Eight years later, the athlete from Murcia once again won the gold

medal after delivering an outstanding performance. He was at the forefront from the beginning,

and he opted for a long attack from km 6 onwards. It was impossible for his rivals to keep up. In

addition, Manuel Bermúdez, also an UCAM athlete, finished in the fourth position. Both of them

are managed by José Antonio Carrillo, UCAM Athleo Cieza president and trainer.

The following victory for Spain was won by Asier Martínez, another UCAM athlete. The 22-year-

old beat the reigning champion by just a millisecond, crowning himself as the new king in men’s

110m hurdles. Enrique Llopis, another athlete who is both Spanish as well as an UCAM

student, finished in the seventh position, achieving the third best national record of all time, only

behind Orlando Ortega (13:04), and Asier (13:17).

The third gold medal for Spain was for the UCAM athlete Mariano García, who obtained the

European Champion title in 800m with a brilliant performance in which he looked superior to the

other participants, even in the final duel against the Brit Wightman.

Silver and Bronze

The UCAM athlete Raquel González was successful with her silver medal in women’s 35km

race walk, staying at the forefront with the Greek Antigoni Ntrismpioti, even taking the lead of

the race at km 25. Raquel was able to hold on to her second place and become continental

runner-up after a hard year that has finally paid off.

Other success came from Mo Katir, who achieved the second place in the European

Championship in 5,000 metres. The athlete from Murcia had a brilliant race against Jakob

Ingebrigtsen, and in the last 50 metres he even tried to reach the Norwegian. However, his

opponent was too strong, and Mo Katir could not overcome him. Consequently, the UCAM

athlete was awarded the continental silver medal after having won the bronze medal in the

1,500 metres at the World Championship in Oregon less than a month ago. Thus, he closes a

triumphant participation at the highest international level in 2022.

Moreover, Diego García Carrera, another UCAM athlete, achieved the bronze medal in the

men’s 20 km race walk.

UCAM High Performance Sports Research Centre, where the best athletes are trained

UCAM’s support to sports along its 25 years of history is known all over the world. The

university uses a model that allow top-level athletes to combine their studies at UCAM with

training and competitions, its alliance with the Spanish Olympic Committee being the driving

force behind this.

The work of the UCAM High Performance Sports Research Centre, where a

close following of the athletes is done, cannot be overlooked. For example, the athletes trained

by José Antonio Carrillo or Gabi Lorente, the latter being the coach of Mariano García and Mo Katir.

Among these athletes, Miguel Ángel López, Mariano García and Álvaro Martín returned

home with a gold medal, and Mo Katir with a silver one. Manuel Bermúdez finished fourth and

Iván López and Carolina Robles finished in the eleventh position. The UCAM High Performance

Sports Research Centre carries out metabolic and genetic tests on athletes in order to establish

an individualised nutrition plan for both training as well as competition, performs assessment of

the neuromuscular state, of the different metabolic pathways and their adaptation to the training

load throughout the season, among other aspects. Athletes of other disciplines such as football,

basketball, cycling, tennis, etc., also use the facilities.