Sara Gallego

Sara Gallego Sotelo (born 11 October 2000) is a Spanish athlete. She is the Spanish national record holder over 400 metres hurdles.[1] In 2021, Gallego ran 55.20 to win silver at the 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships in Tallinn. In doing so, Gallego broke the national record held previously by Cristina Pérez and set 33 years previously.[2]

Career

Gallego began competing as a teenager for Hospitalet Athletics club in Catalonia.[3] She was a bronze medalist in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2016 European Athletics U18 Championships in Tbilisi.[4] She finished fourth in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2018 World Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere.[5] She was a bronze medalist in the 400m hurdles at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in Boras, Sweden.[6]

In September 2020, she broke the Spanish national record for 300 metres hurdles, running 40.18 seconds in Barcelona.[7] She was a silver medalist in the 400m hurdles at the 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships in Tallinn.[8][9]

She was a member of the Spanish mixed 4 × 400 m relay team, alongside Iñaki Cañal, Aauri Bokesa and Bernat Erta, which set a national indoor record time of 3:18.90 on 5 February 2022 at the Dynamic New Athletics Indoor Match in Glasgow, Scotland.[10]

In May 2022, Gallego set a new national record time for the 400 metres hurdles of 54.87 in Alicante. Two weeks after that, at the Spanish Championship, Gallego lowered her own national record again with a run of 54.34.[11][12] She won the Spanish Athletics Championships in 2022.[13]

At the 2022 IAAF World Championship in Eugene, Oregon, Gallego qualified for the semi-finals with a run of 55.09. Gallego did not reach the final but only ran 15 hundredth's of a second outside her personal best as she finished behind Femke Bol and Britton Wilson.[14][15]

She qualified did the final of the 400m hurdles at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany in August 2022.[16] In the final she ran 54.97 seconds to place fourth overall.[17]

She suffered an injured at the beginning of 2023 which ruled her out of action for a period.[3] She was runner-up to Daniela Fra at the Spanish Athletics Championships in June 2024.[18]

Personal life

She was born in Barcelona. She signed a sponsored agreement with Nike when she was a teenager. She studied business administration and management.[3]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Spain
2016 European Youth Championships Tbilisi, Georgia 3rd 400 m hurdles 58.73
2018 World U20 Championships Tampere, Finland 4th 400 m hurdles 57.11
European Championships Berlin, Germany 19th (sf) 400 m hurdles 57.25
2019 European U20 Championships Borås, Sweden 3rd 400 m hurdles 57.44
2021 World Relays Chorzów, Poland 10th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:34.92
European U23 Championships Tallinn, Estonia 2nd 400 m hurdles 55.20
7th 4 × 400 m relay 3:33.54
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 22nd (h) 400 m 53.13
Ibero-American Championships La Nucía, Spain 2nd 400 m hurdles 55.56
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:31.72
World Championships Eugene, United States 11th (sf) 400 m hurdles 54.49
11th (h) Mixed 4 × 400 m relay 3:16.14
European Championships Munich, Germany 4th 400 m hurdles 54.97
8th 4 × 400 m relay 3:29.70

References

  1. ^ "Sara GALLEGO | Profile". Worldathletics.org. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  2. ^ Barclay, Ryan (12 January 2022). "Sara Gallego: prodigy on the fences and family 'hare'". Blazetrends.com. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Riera Rovira, Julia (5 July 2024). "Sara Gallego: "I'll risk everything in 50 seconds, including what I'm going to get paid."". es.ara.cat. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  4. ^ "Tbilisi European U18 Championships". World Athletics. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  5. ^ "IAAF World U20 Championships". World Athletics. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  6. ^ "European U20 Championships". World Athletics. 21 July 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  7. ^ Agusti, Xavier (23 September 2020). "Sara Gallego encareix el rècord de 300 m tanques". Lesportiudecagalunys.cat. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  8. ^ "European Athletics U23 Championships". World Athletics. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  9. ^ "Ceh breaks championship record to win in Tallinn". World Athletics. 11 July 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  10. ^ "Duplantis clears 6.03m and Jacobs returns with a win in Berlin, Nilsen and Woo impress". World Athletics. 6 February 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  11. ^ Williams, George (25 June 2022). "Sara Gallego is crowned with a record in Nerja to dream big". Sportsfinding.com. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  12. ^ Duke, Michael (25 June 2022). "Sara Gallego smashes the Spanish record of 400 meters hurdles". Newsbruit.com. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  13. ^ "FCA receives the award for the best RFEA Federation 2022". fcatletisme. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  14. ^ "De Arriba and Mariano advance in 800 and Sara Gallego brushed her record – World News". Taketonews.com. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Two out of three in the 800 and a fantastic Sara Gallego, Spanish performance in Eugene". Soycorredor.es. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  16. ^ López Alcover, David (18 August 2022). "Sara Gallego, Irene Sánchez-Escribano, and Carolina Robles advance to the 400m hurdles and 3000m steeplechase finals". Sextanillo. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  17. ^ "European Athletics Championships". World Athletics. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  18. ^ Agusti, Xavier (30 June 2024). "Jaime Guerra surt del túnel amb un vol d'or". lesportiudcatalunya.cat (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 April 2025.