The World Championship for adapted Athletics in London, 2017 has come to an end. A championship that was always going to be a major challenge – competing against the best in the world. Moreover, the standard of competitors has increased greatly in my event.
We knew that due to a tricky start to the season, the challenge was going to be extraordinarily difficult, but we decided to take it on. A few months of intense training preceded this championship.
The competition, the best organised adapted sport event I have ever taken part in, got a fantastic response from the English spectators. However, it began with a setback. The first of the trials in which I participated, the 200 meters, would leave me with a bad taste in the mouth. It was perhaps my worst 200m of the year, with some serious technical errors. I didn’t feel good about it. The final result in this trial was 10th place in the world – not good enough. I wanted to do so much better.
After the disappointment of the 200m came the most important trial for me, the 100 meters. I had done some intense training on the runup to the trial, which I hoped would mean I would match my Spanish record – 11.49 seconds – if the race unfolded without incident.
During the trial, there was a strong wind against us, which caused the times to be lower than expected- but the race, in my case, was quite good. I made the best start to a race ever and this put me in first place at 20 meters in the race. In the acceleration phase a technical error would prevent me from achieving my full potential, but I was still feeling positive. In the final part of the race this technical error which I made during acceleration phase meant that I did not reach my desired speed. However, for me the race was still remarkable. The final result was 10th place in the world with a time of 12.02 seconds. (a wind of 1.6m/s was against us}
With this improvement in the 100m results, next came the 400 metres, a race which I had not prepared for this season. However, it was the last race and I was keen on running in it so we decided to go for it.
Taking into account the times of the other runners, we knew that we were in with a chance of 6th to 9th positions. This race presented us with an incentive. It is one which is included in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, 2020, and depending on the results, provided a scholarship. which meant that, if I finished in at least 6th place, I would have the benefit of being part of the ADOP plan. Knowing this, we decided to run the race, keeping an eye on our opponents in order to come in 6th. I reserved enough strength to use in the final stage of the race and despite adverse conditions, I finally made it into 6th place. This meant that I finished the championship among the top 10 athletes in the world in the three events I participated in.