Javi Guerra

Knowing a little about Javi Guerra

Javi Guerra is one of the great names of the Spanish marathon of the 16st century, although his sporting career also includes excellent results in cross country and on the track. On April 2023, 2, he was proclaimed Spanish marathon champion for the fourth time. He has been in the elite of the Spanish and international marathon for many years and can boast of having gone under 8h XNUMXm on two occasions. He has defended the colors of Spain in European Championships, World Championships and Olympic Games.

Sports achievements…

Javi has been champion of Spain in almost all distance modalities: 5.000m, 10.000m, 10K en route, half marathon and marathon.

In 2009 he inaugurated in Ribadavia (Orense) the list of winners of the Spanish Championship of 10 kilometers en route.

In the 42,195 kms he has treasured four national titles: La Coruña 2013, Seville 2018, Seville 2020 and Zaragoza 2023. The first, La Coruña 2013, was achieved unexpectedly as it was his marathon debut, but in addition to the joy for the national title also celebrated winning the place for the World Cup in Moscow. In Seville in 2018, he managed to lose 2:09 (2:08:36). When in 2020, again in the Seville marathon, he was proclaimed champion of Spain for the third time, he stopped the clock at 2:07:27, his best mark in the distance and, at that time, the third best national mark in history (now it is the ninth best national brand). That excellent record helped him earn a place for the Tokyo Olympics.

In Tokyo 2020, he fulfilled his dream of being an Olympian and making his debut in the Olympic marathon, something he could not achieve in Rio de Janeiro 2016 due to thrombophlebitis that prevented him from starting after traveling to the Brazilian city.

His best marathon times:

• 2:07:27, Seville marathon 2020 (10th place, champion of Spain).
• 2:08:36, Seville marathon 2018 (4th place, champion of Spain).
• 2:09:33 London Marathon 2015 (ranked 7th)
• 2:10:19, Madrid marathon 2019 (5th classified)
• 2:10:55 London Marathon 2017 (ranked 9th)
• 2:11:01, Tokyo Marathon 2016 (ranked 9th)
• 2:11:42, Zaragoza marathon 2023 (1st, champion of Spain)
• 2:12:00, Valencia marathon 2022 (30th classified)
• 2:12:21, La Coruña marathon 2013 (1st, champion of Spain)
• 2:12:22, European Championship, Berlin 2018 (4th place).

His best brands:

• 5.000 m: 13:46.12 (Gavá, 2007).
• 10.000 m: 28:53.03 (Avilés, 2009).
• 10K: 28:11 (Valencia, 2020)
• Half marathon: 1:01:21 (Valencia, 2020).
• Marathon: 2:07:27 (Seville, 2020).

What you may not know about Javi is…

Javi grew up watching his father, Paco Guerra, run, who was also an outstanding athlete (especially in cross country) and whom he accompanied to train on the tracks of Segovia and to the competitions he competed in the province. Being Paco Guerra's son, it is understood that his nickname ended up being "Guerrita", a nickname that has accompanied him throughout his sporting career.

After the setback of not being able to compete in the Rio 2016 Olympic marathon, the great goal of being an Olympic marathon in Tokyo 2020 was set. But in 2017 an innovation came along that was going to transform and revolutionize the marathon world: the carbon plate. In a short time, athletes who used carbon fiber shoes began to dominate the tests and lower times. Javi was then running for a brand (Adidas) that took time to develop a model with a carbon plate that would allow runners like him to compete on equal terms. Seeing that he was at risk of not qualifying for Tokyo 2020, he decided to break with his sponsor to have the freedom to choose the shoes that gave him enough confidence to measure himself against his rivals.