Spain celebrates as the women’s relay team wins gold in China, beating USA

SPAIN’s women’s athletics team made history at Sunday’s World Athletics Relays, held in Guangzhou.

The quartet of Paula Sevilla, Eva Santidrian, Daniela Fra and Blanca Hervas stunned the United States to win gold in the 4×400 metres, sparking national celebrations.

They stormed to victory with a new national record of 3:24.13 – a time that not only clinched the gold but also toppled the previous Spanish record by more than a second. 

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Hervas, who was heavily favoured by the Americans, won the race in an exciting finale.

“We’ve felt this way before. We’re super excited: gold medal, world relay champions, Spanish record… Everything is complete, it’s our biggest dream come true,” said the team afterwards. 

Sunday’s gold was the first of its kind for the women – until now, Spain’s only outdoor senior relay medals came in men’s events at European Championships. 

Spain won a second silver medal at the 4x100m relay for women. 

Esperanca Cladera, Jael Bestue, Paula Sevilla and Maribel Perez were only narrowly edged out by Great Britain, clocking the second-fastest time in Spanish history and finishing ahead of Jamaica – a sprinting superpower featuring world stars such as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson.

The 4x100m squad said that it couldn’t have been better. “We’re sisters, so we’re able to achieve these results. This is what we deserved for our hard work. “Winning a medal at the world championships was a goal and we now have it around our necks.”

Spain’s mixed 4-x400m relay team also qualified for the World Championships at Tokyo with a new national record (3:12.55). 

Anchored once again by Hervas, the team – which also included David Garcia Zurita, Carmen Aviles and Samuel Garcia – rounded off a dream weekend with the country’s third relay qualification and third record-breaking performance.

A new generation of golden performers is emerging with performances like these.

“It is a start of a new era,” said the women. Here we are, and we’re Spanish. We had to believe it – and we did. They had better be ready because we’re coming.”