The Spanish athletics team is preparing, among other events, for the European Championships in Birmingham, which will be held from August 10 to 16 for the first time on British soil. As part of this preparation, the federation has announced the squad that will compete in the marathon event, which will not only award individual medals but also count toward the team competition.
A total of 11 athletes (six men and five women) have been pre-selected after meeting the requirements set by European Athletics and the pre-selection criteria established by the High Performance Area and the Sports Directorate of the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA).
Four of the athletes who won the bronze medal in the team event at the 2024 European Half Marathon Championships in Rome will repeat in this European Championship, though this time competing in the full marathon instead of the half marathon: Laura Luengo, Ester Navarrete, Fátima Ouhaddou, and Meritxell Soler. They will be joined by Carolina Robles, who was a finalist in the 3000m steeplechase at that same European Championship.
**Who are the Spanish female marathon runners?**
Leading the list is the reigning European marathon champion, Fátima Azahara Ouhaddou (2:24:05), who was crowned Spanish half marathon champion this year in Mérida. Alongside her is the Spanish marathon champion, Carolina Robles, who made a dream debut in the Spanish Marathon Championship in Barcelona with a time of 2:24:56, becoming the second-best female debutant in Spanish history. They are accompanied by the holder of the second-best Spanish women’s marathon time ever, Laura Luengo from Madrid (2:22:31), who will aim to repeat her strong performance at the World Championships in Tokyo, where she finished 11th.
Also present are two other established athletes in the Spanish historical rankings: Meritxell Soler (2:23:49), the third-fastest Spanish woman of all time and an Olympic marathoner in Paris 2024, and Ester Navarrete (2:24:31), sixth in the national rankings, Spanish champion in 2024, and a member of the team that won the gold medal in the team event at the European Road Running Championships in Brussels.
**Who are the Spanish male marathon runners?**
The men’s team includes the Spanish half marathon record holder, Carlos Mayo from Aragon (59:39 and 2:08:53 in the marathon), who will make his debut in this distance at a major international championship after winning the European team silver medal in the half marathon in Brussels. Also part of that same Brussels team were the Spanish Cross Country champion, Nassim Hassaous (2:08:44), and the Spanish half marathon champion (2025 and 2026), Jorge González (2:08:34), who finished 11th in the half marathon at the 2024 European Championships in Rome.
Joining them is the 2024 Spanish marathon champion, Ibrahim Chakir (2:07:21), the fifth-fastest Spaniard of all time and an Olympic marathoner in Paris 2024. As in the women’s team, there will be a 3000m steeplechase specialist: the national record holder, Fernando Carro (2:09:07 in the marathon), who was Spanish half marathon champion in 2022 and for whom Birmingham will be his first international road championship.
Completing the team is Ilias Fifa (2:08:36), who was part of the European silver medal-winning team in the 10km road race in Brussels 2025.
Both races will take place on Sunday, August 16, with the men’s start at 8:30 a.m. and the women’s at 9:10 a.m. (Spanish time, one hour ahead of Birmingham).