David Canal

David Canal ( David Canal Valero ; born December 7, 1978 in Barcelona ) is a former Spanish sprinter who specialized in the 400-meter run . was the best 400 meter runner in Spain for many years. At a height of 1.83 m, his competition weight is 65 kg.

In 1997 David Canal became Junior European Champion in Ljubljana. At the European Championships in Budapest in 1998, he finished seventh in 45.93 s. As the final runner of the Spanish team in the 4 x 400 meter relay , he made a decisive contribution to the relay winning bronze and setting a Spanish record of 3: 02.47 minutes. At the finish he was 0.01 seconds ahead of Italy's final runner. At the 1999 World Championships he reached the quarter-finals.

In 2000 he won at the European Indoor Championships in Ghent in 46.85 s silver behind the Bulgarian Ilija Dschiwondow . At the Olympic Games in Sydney , he came back to the quarter-finals and was eliminated with the Spanish relay in the preliminary run.

A year later, he finished fourth as the best European at the World Indoor Championships in Lisbon in 46.99 s. At the World Championships in Edmonton , he advanced to the semifinals and was seventh with the Spanish relay.

In 2002 he won bronze with the Spanish relay at the European Indoor Championships in Vienna , and at the European Championships in Munich he won silver in 45.24 seconds behind the German Ingo Schultz in 45.14 seconds. At the 2003 World Championships in Paris / Saint-Denis, he again reached the semi-finals and finished fifth with the Spanish relay.

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, he was eliminated over 200 m in the quarter-finals and over 400 m and in the 4 x 400 meters relay in the preliminary run.

At the European Indoor Championships in Madrid in 2005 Canal won over 400 meters in 46.64 s silver behind the Irish David Gillick and took fifth place with the Spanish relay in the final.

He was six times Spanish champion over 400 m (1998-2003) and once over 200 m (2005). In the hall he won the national title over 400 m seven times (1999-2005):

Best times

• 100 m : 10.53 s, June 1st, 2002, Castellón
• 200 m : 20.68 s, June 10, 2004, Rivas Vaciamadrid
  • Hall: 20.95 s, January 29, 2005, Valencia
• 400 m: 45.01 s, 3rd August 2003, Jerez de la Frontera
  • Hall: 45.93 s, February 20, 2005, Madrid
• Long jump : 6.38 s, August 12, 2003, Castellón

Web links

• David Canal in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Athlete portrait (PDF; 36 kB) at the RFEA
• David Canal in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )