Playas de Castellón Makes History as Sub-20 European Champions

The Playas de Castellón team has made history by becoming the champion of the Sub-20 European Championship in Rome, bringing the province of Castellón to the highest level once again in this thrilling sporting event. This achievement adds a golden glow to the year 2023 and marks their fourth European championship title of the season, adding to the three titles won in cross country in Oropesa del Mar in February.

This fourth title in the Sub-20 category on the track joins their impressive record, which includes victories in 2010 in Poland, 2011 in Castellón, and 2015 in Turkey. Additionally, the team has achieved two titles in the Sub-20 category in cross country in 2017 in Albufeira and 2018 in Mira, Portugal, along with seven other titles in the absolute category, totaling thirteen European championship titles in the club's history.

The competition was intense throughout the event, and the excitement reached its peak in the final event: the mixed relay of 600m-400m-200m-800m. It was here that Playas de Castellón staged a spectacular comeback by gaining two positions in the last 300 meters.

The hero of this feat was Ronaldo Olivo, who had already been crowned European champion in the individual 800-meter category. In his leg, he surpassed the Italians from Fiamme Gialle with 300 meters to go and the Danes from Sparta Atletik with 100 meters to go. The previous legs were covered by Mara Rolli, Adrián Gómez, and Ana Irene Elewe, and the team finished with a time of 4:42.50, leaving behind Sparta's 4:43.60 and Fiamme's 4:44.70.

In the previous events, Gerard Rodríguez achieved victory in the 400m hurdles by just one hundredth of a second, with a time of 54.47. Javier Cruz reached the final and placed second in the shot put with 16.64, contributing 10 points to the club, just like Pau Martínez in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.45. Anastasia López also contributed 10 points in the 100 meters with a mark of 12.30.

The 4x400 mixed relay, composed of Javier Ruiz, Daniel Carretero, Julia García, and Jose Miguel Pons, finished in third position, just one hundredth of a second behind second place, with a time of 3:37.70. David Vicente also secured fourth place in the 110m hurdles, recording a time of 14.68. Arnau Gómez finished in fourth place in the 200 meters with a time of 22.72, adding six points to the club.

Mara Herrando and Candela Blazquez achieved fifth place in the long jump and the 800 meters respectively, with marks of 5.30 (+1.9) in the final and 2:19.85. Additionally, Cristian Villaplana contributed 4 points in the high jump with a jump of 1.60 in the final round, as did Cármen Jiménez in the javelin, who achieved 30.83 in the final round.