[Sport] Mireia Belmonte, fourth, 23 hundredths from the podium of the 400 styles

[SougarLord]

Web Link: https://www.elmundo.es/deportes/juegos-olimpicos/2021/07/25/60fccfe5fc6c8335158b45a1.html

 

 

Injuries hit the muscles, but never the spirit, if we talk about champions. Mireia Belmonte is, from beginning to end, aware of her possibilities, dominating the scene. She took time, frustrating initial steps through the Olympic stalls, as in Beijing, but the gold gave her dominance of the tables. In Tokyo she put it in value, with a fourth place in the 400 styles that does not give access to the podium, but that after a year of calamities, is of enormous value. It doesn't shine, but it weighs. At 30, there is a swimmer, there is a champion.

 

She was separated by 23 hundredths, although by less margin, only two, she hung the gold in the 200 butterfly in Rio, where she achieved bronze in the same final in which she was fourth in Tokyo. In the styles, then, there has not been a great variation in the positions, but there has been in the times. So, 4: 32.39; now, 4: 35.15. With less demand, she is just as competitive. The hundredths are medals in the water. The tenths, an eternity.

 

The final was less fast than usual, like all those held at the Aquatic Center in Tokyo, except for the world record of 4x100 (3: 29.69) with which the Australians began their attack on Tokyo. In most cases, there were even worse times in the finals than in the semifinals, a consequence of playing the first few in the morning, due to the demands of the broadcasts in the United States. They want them in their 'prime time'. Whoever pays the most, rules.

 

RETURNED IN ARM AND CROL

Mireia, an expert, knew that for this she had a chance. She was not, instead, for a fast race. She passed the butterfly post fifth, fell to sixth on her back and began to climb at the moment of her, her breaststroke. She finished fourth. The free kick was the final attack on the bronze hunt, but Hali Flickinger wouldn't let it. She resisted the American to finish in 4: 34.90. The Spanish in those 4: 35.13, almost four seconds behind her national record (4: 31.21).

 

Both are very far from the winner, the Japanese Ohashi Yui, incontestable to win in 4: 32.08. Mireia resisted, however, better than Katinka Hosszu, her generation partner. The Hungarian, with the world record (4: 26.36), did not lose a final of 400 styles from London. In Tokyo, she was left off the podium. A symptom of the generational change that Mireia, for now, resists. The 800 and 1,500 of her await you with better sensations than she brought.

 

"If they tell me a few months ago, I don't believe it," said Mireia, referring to the injuries she has suffered. A fourth place never tastes good, the "chocolate medal", as Carmen Valero said, but it was celebrated to have recovered sensations in the last post, the crawl, facing his performance in the 800 and 1,500, the pure background: "I have to take advantage of that letter ".