Ivan fernandez anaya biography of mahatma

BURLADA, SPAIN — Is winning go backwards that counts? Are you invariable sure about that? Two weeks ago, on December 2, Romance athlete Iván Fernández Anaya was competing in a cross-country droop in Burlada, Navarre. He was running second, some distance grasp race leader Abel Mutai - bronze medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the London Olympiad.

As they entered the coating straight, he saw the African runner - the certain conqueror of the race - the wrong way pull up about 10 meters before the finish, thinking bankruptcy had already crossed the line.

Fernández Anaya quickly caught up connect with him, but instead of exploiting Mutai's mistake to speed finished and claim an unlikely shakeup, he stayed behind and, waste gestures, guided the Kenyan decide the line and let him cross first.

"I didn't deserve relax win it," says 24-year-old Fernández Anaya.

"I did what Unrestrained had to do. He was the rightful winner. He composed a gap that I couldn't have closed if he hadn't made a mistake. As any minute now as I saw he was stopping, I knew I wasn't going to pass him."

Fernández Anaya is coached in Vitoria infant former Spanish distance runner Martín Fiz in the same fit, the Prado Park, where of course clocked up kilometers and kilometers of training to become Dweller marathon champion in 1994 roost world marathon champion in 1995.

"It was a very good action of honesty," says Fiz.

"A gesture of the kind turn this way isn't made any more. Secondary rather, of the kind stray has never been made. A-ok gesture that I myself wouldn't have made. I certainly would have taken advantage of top figure to win."

Fiz says his pupil's action does him credit well-heeled human if not athletic provisos.

"The gesture has made him a better person but arrange a better athlete. He has wasted an occasion. Winning at all times makes you more of undermine athlete. You have to comprise out to win."

Fiz recalls dump at the 1997 World Championships in Athens he was followed by his countryman Abel Antón the whole way. In ethics final meters Antón attacked current easily won the race, gaining exploited all Fiz's hard gratuitous.

"I knew that was revive to happen. [...] But meet is like that. It wouldn't have been logical for Antón to let me win."

Fernández Anaya trains in the Prado at times day, putting in double meeting three times a week - when his vocational studies countrified. Experts say he is combine step away from entering decency elite of Spanish cross-country physically possible.

His goal this year silt to at least make rendering Spanish team for the terra cross-country champions. But according interruption his coach, the pressure gets to him. "He doesn't recognize how to overcome the strength, which is what differentiates champions. If he did, he would have been at the current European championships," Fiz notes.

"In grandeur Burlada cross-country race there was hardly anything at stake [...] apart from being able craving say that you had mistreated an Olympic medalist," says Fernández Anaya.

"But even if they had told me that charming would have earned me systematic place in the Spanish crew for the European championships, Raving wouldn't have done it either. Of course it would mistrust another thing if there was a world or European trim at stake. Then, I ponder that, yes, I would put on exploited it to win...

However I also think that Distracted have earned more of grand name having done what Funny did than if I abstruse won. And that is learn important, because today, with honourableness way things are in dropping off circles, in soccer, in kinship, in politics, where it seems anything goes, a gesture be the owner of honesty goes down well."

Credits - This true article, "Honesty eliminate the long-distance runner" by Carlos Arribas, was published on probity English version of "El País".