José Manuel ("Chema") Martínez Fernández (born 22 October 1971 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

) is a Spanish

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

. He is married to Spanish

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player Nuria Moreno. Martínez's first major win came at the 1999 Summer Universiade, where he became the champion in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

. He competed at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, finishing 13th in the final, but was more successful at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

, in which he won the 2002 gold medal in the 10,000 m, and returned to take the silver medal at the following edition in 2006. He won the

San Silvestre Vallecana The San Silvestre Vallecana is an annual 10 km road race held on 31 December in Madrid, Spain since 1964. It has two editions: a fun run A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with partic ...

10K race in Madrid in 2003. Martínez has represented

Spain at the Olympics Spain first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, and has sent athletes to compete in most Summer Olympic Games since 1920. Spain has also participated in every Winter Olympic Games since 1936. Its team is organised by the Spanish Olympic Co ...

on two occasions: in 2004, finishing ninth in the 10,000 m, and at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, at which he was 16th in the Olympic

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

race. Other significant achievements include a win at the

Madrid Marathon The Rock 'n' Roll Madrid Marathon ( es, Maratón de Rock 'n' Roll Madrid) is an annual marathon race which takes place in Madrid, Spain, in late April. The event was first held in 1978 and has since gained IAAF Gold Label Road Race status and ha ...

in 2008 (his first marathon win), a bronze medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games, a silver medal in the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

at the 2009 Mediterranean Games and an eighth-place finish in the marathon at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

. He has competed at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

on numerous occasions, with his best performance of 17th coming at the 2003 edition. He ran in the 2010 Cursa de Bombers and finished in third place with a time of 28:54. Martínez took third at the

European Cup 10000m The European 10,000m Cup is an annual 10,000 metres race for European athletes which was first held in 1997. The competition is organised by the European Athletics Association and first began as the European 10000 Metres Challenge (''European 1 ...

in early June, although he was some distance behind the winner

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...

of Great Britain. He was Spain's top contender for the marathon at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. He won the

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, etc ...

but was satisfied with the performance as winner

Viktor Röthlin Viktor Röthlin (born October 14, 1974 in Kerns, Obwalden) is a Swiss former long-distance runner, who specialized in the marathon. Röthlin won the silver medal at the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, the bronze medal ...

set a fast pace in the hot race. Martínez ended the year at the San Silvestre Vallecana, where he finished fourth. He began his 2011 season at the

and finished as the runner-up behind Yousef El Kalai. He won the Spanish edition of the Wings For Life World Run in 2014 and 2015. He ran 55.56 km in 2014 finishing 40th of the global rank and 59.19 km in 2015 to get the 48th position.

Achievements

Personal bests

*5000 metres - 13:11.13 min (Huelva, 2006) *10000 metres - 28:09 min (Manchester, 2007) *Marathon - 2:08:09 hrs (Rotterdam, 2003)

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Jose Manuel 1971 births Living people Spanish male long-distance runners Spanish male marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Spain Athletes from Madrid European Athletics Championships medalists Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Spain Athletes (track and field) at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Universiade gold medalists for Spain Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade