Pepe Peiro, the national athletics coach, acknowledged that Ignacio Fontes’ exclusion from the Eugene World Cup list was unfair in an interview with Runner’s World.
He clarified that although the outcome with the Granada athlete wasn’t fair, he believes it would have been unfair for the three other competitors to be excluded. He says, “I spoke to Nacho before I gave the list. I told him my heart hurt for that decision. But my goal is to bring into each championship those who can perform better in pursuit of our objectives, the to maximize medals and finalist places to finish at top of each competition’s ranking.”
Pepe Peiro says that there are many criteria. “In the last hours, I had several meetings with high-performance area with four people. We valued all points and the last one was over last night. It was a complex decision, and I knew at all times that there was a possibility that one of us would be out. It is unfortunate that Nacho Fontes took it so badly. He could have done the same with another athlete. Although he had merits, he was not allowed to compete in the World Cup. He indicated that the balance needed to be rebalanced.
The national coach clarified that Mechaal will not be allowed to double the 1,500 and 5,000 for the European Championship because “the schedule does not permit it.”
