Iván Raña: “I am sad; I have done what I could, but today I had no more"
The Galician Iván Raña, triathlon world champion in 2002 - in Cancún (Mexico) - and of Europe that year and the next, who lost the opportunity to qualify for the London Games, which would have been his fourth Olympic appearance, explained to Efe who is “sad” because he did what he could “but today he had nothing more.”
Raña, who a few months ago suffered a stress fracture of the metatarsal of his left foot and despite this, practically did not stop competing, in search of points for the Olympic ranking, finished the World Triathlon event held today, Sunday, in Madrid, in 44th place and lost the internal fight for the third Spanish place in London against Josemi Pérez from Cuenca, who finished twenty-sixth and will be in the Games.
"I made what I could. Today I had no more,” he told Efe in the finish area of the Casa de Campo, after the test, the champion from Órdes (Coruña).
“The same, if he had sprinted in the last lap, he would have gained a place, but Josemi was already ahead and that was the fight he was coming to,” added Iván, who was an Olympian in the 2000 Sydney Games (Australia), Athens. '04 and Beijing '08, achieving fifth places in both the Australian and Chinese events.
“Today what I had is what we saw in the race, although I think I am better than what I showed here in Madrid. Last week she had great feelings and she didn't know what to do, whether to continue training or stop. I worked a lot. But today I couldn't," said Raña.
“I trained a lot in the winter, then I had the stress fracture of the metatarsal and I continued traveling and competing, with the bad foot. But I had to go to tests to score. It annoys me that I haven't been able to fight at full strength here,” the first Spanish triathlon world champion told Efe - the second and only other is his countryman Javi Gómez Noya, double world champion.
“I'm sad, because I was very motivated. Not being able to run, I had greatly increased my level of swimming and cycling. I was ecstatic, but I couldn't accomplish anything else. I did three or four races with the stress fracture and there are people who tell me that I have been unlucky. But luck has been good, not to end up breaking my entire foot,” Raña concluded. EFE
