Mari Cruz Díaz
Mari Cruz Díaz ( Catalan , Spanish María Cruz Díaz García ; born October 24, 1969 in Barcelona ) is a former Spanish walker .
Life
At the age of 13 she made her first appearance in the Spanish national team when she was used in the 1983 World Cup. In 1985 she became Junior European Champion over 5000 meters.
In 1986, women's walking was on the program for the first time at major international championships. At the European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart , Sweden's Ann Jansson was the clear favorite for the 10-kilometer distance. Ann Jansson won silver in 46:14 minutes behind Díaz in 46:09 minutes. At 16 years and 306 days, Díaz replaced Yugoslav Vera Nikolić as the youngest European champion.
A year later, at the World Championships in Rome in 1987 , Díaz set her best time of 44:48 minutes, but was only fourth in the competition won by Russian Irina Strachowa in 44:12 minutes. In 1988 Díaz won bronze over 3000 meters at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Budapest . With 12: 55.03 min she was a good six seconds behind the winner, her compatriot María Reyes Sobrino . In the summer of 1988 Díaz was junior world champion over 5000 meters.
After a 15th place at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Díaz was also at the start of the 1992 Olympic premiere of women's walking in Barcelona . In her hometown she was tenth after 45:32 minutes, one minute behind the Chinese winner Chen Yueling .
After a break of several years from competition, she qualified for the 20 km walking at the World Championships in Paris / Saint-Denis in 2003 , but was disqualified there.
Mari Cruz Díaz is 1.61 m tall and weighed 47 kg during her active time.
Best times
- 3000 m walking (hall): 12: 48.82 min, 1988
- 5000 m walking: 21: 36.92 min, August 7, 1987, Birmingham
- 10,000 m walking: 44: 41.71 min, August 2, 2003, Jerez de la Frontera
- 10 km walking: 44:48 min, September 1, 1987, Rome
- 20 km walking: 1:32:10 h, May 18, 2003, Cheboksary
literature
- Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 1992. Windsor 1992, ISBN 1-873057-11-3
Web links
- Athlete portrait of Mari Cruz Díaz at the IAAF (English)
- Athlete portrait (PDF file; 46 kB) at the RFEA
- Mari Cruz Díaz in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Díaz, Mari Cruz |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Díaz García, María Cruz (full Spanish name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish walker |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 24, 1969 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Barcelona |