Posted: May 4, 2005

Athletics: Rey Leads Spanish World Championships Marathon Squad

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

Defending world championships silver medallist Julio Rey will lead the Spanish marathon squad for August's IAAF World Championships, RFEA, the Spanish Federation, announced today.

Most recently, the 33-year-old Spaniard won the Olympus Marathon in Hamburg, Germany in 2:07:38, his third sub-2:08 performance. At the 2003 world championships in Paris, Rey clocked 2:08:38, seven seconds behind winner Gharib Jaouad Gharib of Morocco. Rey also won the bronze medal at the 2002 European Championships.

Joining Rey will be José Ríos, Chema Martínez and Kamel Ziani. Ríos has a personal best of 2:07:42 from his win at the Lake Biwa Marathon in 2004, and in his most recent outing, finished second in the same marathon, clocking 2:09:03 in March. Martinez has a best of 2:08:09 from the 2003 Fortis Marathon Rotterdam, while Ziani's best of 2:10:18, was set in 1997. Both raced in Rotterdam last month, with Martinez finishing ninth (2:11:56) and Ziani 12th (2:12:53).

Isabel Eizmendi is the lone entrant for the women's team. She too competed in Rotterdam, finishing third in 2:33:14.

The men's world championships marathon is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 13, with the women's race the following day.