The Burgos Eva Santidrián and Cristina Ruiz began practicing girls’ athletics, with the aim of having a good time and having fun. They never imagined getting to where they have done it, and today their goal is another: to compete in the European Athletics Championships, which will be held from August 8 to 11. To do this, they must first run the absolute Spanish Championship, which is held this weekend in Getafe, and where both hope to beat their personal best, and reach the European.
Santidrián, was proclaimed champion of Spain under 23 in the 200 meter dash last Sunday, surpassing her personal best and managing to finish the race with the mark of 23.68 seconds. Tomorrow, Sunday June 27, he will run the 200-meter dash again, where he hopes to improve his time, and achieve the minimum to be able to participate in the European. She is only eight hundredths away from achieving it, and she is determined to “go for it” in this test.
For her part, Ruiz also managed to win the sub 23 gold medal in the 5,000 meter dash, although she acknowledges that it was “very unexpected” for her to achieve this victory, since she had been preparing to run the 1,500.
When she did not achieve the minimum that would allow her to be in the European, she decided to focus on the 5,000, and now she is classified for this test. However, this weekend in Getafe he will seek to achieve the minimum of 1,500. “If I did the minimum I would go to the European with 1,500, and if not 5,000,” he points out.
Although it is not the first time that they have become champions of Spain, none of them expected to achieve so much, especially after the coronavirus pandemic, which minimized their training to the maximum.
“For me it has been the reward of all the effort this year, with the covid issue it has been difficult to train,” says Santidrián. 2020 was a “tough year” for them in terms of training and they affirm that when this season began, for them it was like “starting from scratch”.
“All winter it was like training without having any clear objective, although it teaches you to see athletics in a different way, without looking at the objective, because we are always with a fixed objective. It was different ”, explains Cristina Ruiz.
A game that evolved in a dream .
Santidrián remembers that he started athletics at the age of 8 or 9. At first it was about “a game”, a way to have fun and spend the afternoon. However, little by little it became a dedication, although he admits that he continues to have fun the same as when he was younger. “I started because I liked it a lot, I was going to have fun, to be with my friends, but at no time did I think that I would win a Spanish championship,” he acknowledges.
Eva trains five days a week, for two hours, and stresses that in order to combine studies and athletics, it is necessary to organize. A piece of advice that Cristina also agrees on, who trains an hour and a half six days a week, and sometimes her workouts are repeated in the morning and in the afternoon. To achieve this demanding training pace while keeping up with her studies, she believes it is important to establish a routine. “I’m used to it and it gives me better. Studying helps me to clear my mind, and vice versa ”, he explains.
Both are sure that they want to continue practicing athletics, as long as the injuries and their obligations allow it. At the moment, his main objective is focused on this weekend, to beat his records and be able to be in the European Championship.