Ander Martín (Torrevieja, 25 years old) was proclaimed runner-up in the individual competition on the last day of the World Championships on Sunday. sprint on the beachwhich was held this week on the Manavgat coast, outside Antalya (Türkiye). The player from Torrevieja had a memorable performance on a decisive day, where he only lost in the final against the reigning champion, the American Christopher Bak.
Martín started the World Cup of this new Olympic discipline last Thursday with a solid fourth place in the time trial, a result that guaranteed him a direct passage to the round of 16 by placing in the top-8. A performance that allowed him to avoid Friday’s risky play-off, characterized by waves and adverse weather conditions.
Already on Saturday the rower from Alicante had overtaken the Austrian Leopold Wiesinger with authority, despite having started the test with a small problem in his pedal to the right of your boat. His solvency in the second half of the event gave him the ticket to fight for medals on the decisive day.
In the first of three races this Sunday, Martín beat the Turkish Kaan Aydin with an advantage of just over two seconds. With very little time to recover, the Torrevieja native faced one of the most demanding tests of the championship to get on the podium: a direct duel against the German Moritz Wolff, best time in the time trial, and who reached the semi-final after eliminating another of the big favourites, the Lithuanian Galisanskis.
As if that wasn’t enough, the match became even more difficult due to the rest: Martín enjoyed ten minutes less rest than his rival. In a very close duel in which Ander had problems with the slipper, everything was resolved in the final stretch, where Wolff tripped and fell on the sand, leaving the passage to the final on a plate to the Spanish rower.
With this Sunday’s world silver, Martín adds a new world medal to his brilliant record, made up of the two golds obtained in mixed doubles with Olympian Esther Briz in 2021 and 2022, and the bronze obtained last year with the same partner. Furthermore, this podium is the culmination of an exceptional season in which he achieved second place in Europe, the demanding gold medals in the entrance tests for the national team and in the tests The Spaniards will compete internationally, as well as gold with Briz in the mixed doubles of the prestigious Pharoes Trophy.
It should also be remembered that under the tutelage of the international rowing federation, World Rowingthe discipline of sprint on the beach It will debut as an Olympic sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. There, all men’s and women’s individual events, as well as mixed doubles, are expected to take place in just two days of competition, cementing an attractive and exciting modality that continues to gain relevance on the international scene with the recurring arrival of calm-water rowing participants.
