Manuel Olmedo

Manuel Olmedo Villar (born 17 May 1983) is a Spanish middle-distance runner. He specialises in the 800 metres. He represented Spain at the Olympic Games at both the 2004 Athens Games and 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also ran at the World Championships in Athletics in 2003, 2007 and 2009.

Manuel Olmedo

Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Spain
European Championships
2010 Barcelona1500 m
European Indoor Championships
2011 Paris1500 m
European U23 Championships
2005 Erfurt800 m
2003 Bydgoszcz800 m

Olmedo has won medals at the European Athletics U23 Championships. His personal best in the 800 m is 1:45.13.

Career

Born in Seville, Olmedo started his career with performances at junior level, competing at the 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He was knocked out at the heats stage of the 2002 European Athletics Indoor Championships but he reached the final at the 2002 World Junior Championships, taking eighth place in 1:56.73.[1]

The 2003 season marked a breakthrough for Olmedo as he took fifth in the European Athletics Indoor Cup and won the 800 m bronze medal at the 2003 European Athletics U23 Championships. He was the runner-up in the Spanish national championships that year behind Antonio Manuel Reina, gaining himself qualification into the 2003 World Championships in Athletics.[2] At his first World Championships he was fourth in his heat, running 1:47.98, but this was not enough to qualify. Olmedo reached the Olympic stage the following year but again finished fourth in his heat, being knocked out of the 2004 Athens Olympics.[1]

In his last appearance in non-senior competition, he won the silver medal at the 2005 European Athletics U23 Championships. He reached the 800 m semi-finals at the 2006 European Athletics Championships, but was eliminated after he finished in fourth place. He did not get past the heat stages at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships, but managed to reach the semi-finals at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan, but his near-personal best time of 1:45.61 was only enough for fifth.[1] After recording a personal best of 1:45.13 at the Rieti IAAF Grand Prix,[3] he was invited to the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final and finished in sixth place. He reached the semi-finals twice at the global level in 2008 – finish fifth in his semi-final at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships, and just missing out on the 800 m Olympic final at the 2008 Beijing Games (having run 1:45.91 for fourth).[1]

He had his best performance at senior level at the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships, where he reached the final and finished in fifth place. He failed to match this performance at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, however, as he did not manage to finish his heat.[1]

Competition record
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Spain
2000 World Junior Championships Santiago, Chile 5th (heats) 800m 1:51.65
2002 European Indoor Championships Vienna, Austria 19th (heats) 800m 1:51.95
World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 8th 800m 1:56.73
2003 European Indoor Cup Leipzig, Germany 5th 800m 1:49.55
European U23 Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 3rd 800m 1:46.83
World Championships Paris, France 4th (heats) 800 m 1:47.98
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 4th (heats) 800 m 1:47.71
2005 European U23 Championships Erfurt, Germany 2nd 800m 1:51.47
2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 12th (semis) 800m 1:49.37
2007 European Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 12th (heats) 800m 1:54.54
World Championships Osaka, Japan 5th (semis) 800 m 1:45.61
IAAF World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 6th 800m 1:47.06
2008 World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 5th (semis) 800 m 1:48.90
Olympic Games Beijing, China 4th (semis) 800 m 1:45.91
2009 European Indoor Championships Turin, Italy 5th 800 m 1:49.77
World Championships Berlin, Germany — 800 m DNF
2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 3rd 1500 m 3:43.54
2011 European Indoor Championships Paris, France 1st 1500 m 3:41.03
European Team Championships Stockholm, Sweden 1st 1500 m 3:38.63
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References
  1. Olmedo Manuel Biography. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-04.
  2. Thrilling Spanish Championships - Spanish Team for Paris announced. IAAF (2003-08-06). Retrieved on 2010-06-04.
  3. Rieti Grand Prix 2007. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-04.
  • Manuel Olmedo at World Athletics
  • Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Manuel Olmedo". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
  • Interview from European Athletics
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