Àlex Pintado, the successor of the tradition in the 1,500 meters: “I felt relief when football was canceled due to the pandemic”

The look above: at 18 years old he already measures 1.92 meters and it seems that he will be more, as fine as he is, so much still to grow. The look above, as it appears in the photo of the finish line of the 1,500 meters of the last U-20 World Cup, where he achieved a historic bronze, since only Fermín Cacho in 1988 had won a medal in that category. The look above: the eyes to the sky that awaits him, to the races with the best athletes on the planet in Europeans, World Cups and the Olympic Games. Write down your name, Alex Pintado (Terrassa, 2006), the successor of the Spanish middle distance heritage, because he runs, he runs very fast and he does something even better: he thinks.

“To tell you the truth, I think that what I have achieved until now is of no use. My goal is to train as a professional, compete as a professional, and these categories are just entertainment along the way,” he proclaims and he is right. Indeed, so far his achievements can only be considered warnings, but what warnings. If last year’s fall into hell Mo Katir It was a disappointment for Spanish athletics, Pintado’s promotion was a consolation.

Disenchantment with football

Why do you run?

Since I was little I liked it, in fact I was enrolled in athletics, but we did everything, run, throw, jump and I only liked running. The days I had to jump I got bored. So I left him and played soccer. I was extreme at Cercle Sabadellès and I was fast, but when confinement came I realized that I didn’t really like it. The games were canceled due to the coronavirus and for me it was a relief, it was not a disappointment. I discovered that it wasn’t my thing, that I played just to play and my parents told me that I could quit, but that I had to do some sport. And that’s why I returned to athletics.

In reality, Pintado was called to be a runner, even though he spent many years chasing a ball. His father, Ricard Pintadowas a long-distance runner who reached the podium in the 5,000 meters at a Spanish Championship, and his mother Toni Aznar He became international in the 800 meters as an Ibero-American. In 2020, as soon as he stepped on a tartan, the coaches were amazed by his very long stride. What’s more, if he didn’t win an international medal until last year it was because his body wouldn’t let him.

In his first season as an athlete he was runner-up in Spain under-16, but in the second his knee began to hurt and hurt and hurt. He had grown a lot, but some joints still hadn’t noticed and a lump appeared that hurt him if he ran. They told him it was Osgood-Schlatter disease and the only solution was to rest. “I took it very well. They explained to me that it was a growth injury and that it would pass over time. I was almost unemployed for a year, but it was not a trauma,” Pintado recalls that since he recovered he has not stopped.

Telecommunications and New Balance

From the slopes of Santa Coloma de Gramenet, under the orders of an octogenarian DomingoLópez -who already trained his father-, was taking steps until that race in the U-20 World Cup last year in which he was only surpassed by the Ethiopian Abdisa Fayisawho also competed in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and the Australian Cameron Myerscurrent under-18 world record holder in the 1,500 meters. This 2025 their goal is gold in the European under-20 as they have already won Matthew Canellas, Reyes Estevez y David Bustosalthough he would like to “show his head” with the seniors in a meeting or in the Spanish Championship.

What will you do with your studies?

I have started a double degree in Computer Engineering and Telecommunications at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), but the idea is to focus on training well. I’ve never thought about stopping studying, but I think I can take athletics seriously for a few years and see how far I get.

Pintado has signed as a professional with New Balance and with this he has a few years guaranteed, but also more pressure. Furthermore, history says that Cacho was Olympic champion in Barcelona 1992 only four years after being a medalist in a U-20 World Cup and there is no one who does not name that precedent for the young man. “I take it easy. I really know that it is very difficult to compete in an Olympic Games or a World Cup. I keep working, I stay the same, even though they tell me things. A U-20 medal gives motivation, but that’s it,” he concludes with a tranquility that invites even more optimism. Àlex Pintado, write down his name.