Sports writing (EFE).- The Galician Adrián Ben was proclaimed this Sunday 800 European champion on the indoor track in Istanbul (Turkey), finishing first, in the sprint and by three thousandths, a race in which he started last and went up placed until the last meters.
Ben, in his third participation in an indoor European Championship, carried out a very tactical race in which he gradually gained positions after starting last. With two hundred meters to go, he entered the top three and, attacking from the outside, reached the sprint to win by only three thousandths (1: 47.34) from the Frenchman Benjamin Robert, second. Third was the Belgian Elliot Crestan.
“I have come out strong. I saw that the rest came out very strong. I tried not to get nervous because there were a lot of touches in the race. With 300 meters to go I braked but I thought that either I would get ahead or it was all over. With a hundred meters to go I was second and since it was my dream to have an international medal I gave everything. Being European champion is a dream”, said Ben, at the end of the race.
The Galician athlete, a pupil of Arturo Martín, achieved his first medal in a major international championship after finishing fifth in the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games and sixth in the 2019 Doha Outdoor World Cup.