José Luis Blanco Quevedo (born 3 June 1975 in

Lloret de Mar Lloret de Mar (; ) is a Mediterranean coastal town in Catalonia, Spain. It is south of Girona and northeast of Barcelona. With a population of 38,402 in 2021, it is the second largest town in the Selva comarca of Catalonia. Lloret de Mar attra ...

) is a Spanish

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

, who mostly concentrated on the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the ...

. Blanco won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, e ...

in this event at the 2006 European Championships and the bronze medal at the 2010 European Athletics. At the 2006 European Championships, in a contest where pre-race favourite

Simon Vroemen Simon Frans Vroemen (born 11 May 1969 in Delft, South Holland) is a Dutch runner, specialising in the steeplechase. Biography Vroemen has a degree in molecular sciences from the Wageningen University. He wrote his dissertation on the stress phy ...

was ruled out due to food poisoning, Blanco tried to outrun the pack of competitors after the first three-thirds which were somewhat slow. Accelerating with 500 metres to go, Blanco led the race with one lap left. With 150 metres left, he was overcome by

Jukka Keskisalo Jukka Pekka Sakari Keskisalo (born 27 March 1981) is a Finnish athlete competing in 3000 m steeplechase and 1500 m. He won the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2006 European Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg and was also an Olympian in 2012. B ...

, but hung on to second place. His personal best time is 8:12.86 minutes, achieved in

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The ria ...

in June 2006.

International competitions

References

1975 births Living people Spanish male middle-distance runners Spanish male steeplechase runners Olympic athletes for Spain Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Spain European Athletics Championships medalists Doping cases in athletics Spanish sportspeople in doping cases Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2009 Mediterranean Games 21st-century Spanish people {{spain-athletics-bio-stub