Marta García grabs a shining silver in the 5,000m at the European Championship
Sensational. Spectacular. In April, she couldn’t even run. A lumbar ailment had sent her to the stretcher and she couldn’t train. Excessive gym workouts had short-circuited her preparation and she was theoretically out of shape. But she is a top competitor. A wonderful athlete who inaugurated the Spanish medal tally at the European Championships in Birmingham. Marta García from León (28 years old), a trained doctor, earned her doctorate again by winning silver in the 5,000 meters final with a time of 15m39s98. Two years ago in Rome, she won bronze and this time she climbed one step higher. As in 2024, at the very top was the untouchable Italian Nadia Battocletti (15m37s84), who defended her title. “You had to believe it like in the Football World Cup and I believed it. Everything went as I wanted, I gave the maximum I could. I was always where I had planned to be during the race,” García said. Behind her, the bronze medal went to the Italian Micol Majori (15m40s65).