José Manuel Martínez Fernández (born 22 October 1971 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

), known as Chema Martínez, 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 stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

. He is married to Spanish

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player Nuria Moreno. Martínez's first major win came at the

1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summer Universiade, also known as the XX Summer Universiade, took place in Palma, Majorca, Palma de Mallorca, Spain from 3 July to 13 July. Venues * Estadi Son Moix — athletics, football (finals), ceremonies * Palau Municipal d'Espor ...

, 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 ...

. He competed at the

2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 and 12 August 2001 and was the first time the event ...

, 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 Athletic Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for me ...

, 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 for amateur athletes and an elite race for professional athletes. In 2012, the race achieved its hist ...

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 Comm ...

on two occasions: in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, finishing ninth in the 10,000 m, and at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, at which he was 16th in the Olympic

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), 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 ...

race. Other significant achievements include a win at the

Madrid Marathon The Rock 'n' Roll Madrid Marathon () 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 had over 15,000 runners participate in t ...

in 2008 (his first marathon win), a bronze medal at the

2005 Mediterranean Games The XVth Mediterranean Games Almería 2005 (XV Juegos del Mediterráneo 2005 in Spanish), commonly known as the 2005 Mediterranean Games, were the 15th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Almería, Spain over 10 days, from 24 June to 3 Ju ...

, 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 The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games () and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the International Committee of Mediterran ...

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 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

. 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 In ...

on numerous occasions, with his best performance of 17th coming at the 2003 edition. He ran in the 2010

Cursa de Bombers The Cursa de Bombers () is an annual road running race over 10 km which takes place in April in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. History and course The race was created in 1999 as a joint venture between the ''Bombers de Barcelona'' (Firemen of B ...

and finished in third place with a time of 28:54. Martínez took third at the European Cup 10000m 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 Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...

of Great Britain. He was Spain's top contender for the marathon at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

. 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, ...

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 at the ...

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 European Cup 10000m and finished as the runner-up behind Yousef El Kalai. Martínez 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) *10000 metres - 27m57s61 (Atenas, 2004) *Marathon - 2:08:09 hrs (Rotterdam, 2003)

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Chema 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 for 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 FISU World University Games gold medalists for Spain Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Spanish Athletics Championships winners