Spain’s Relay Breakthrough Turns Heads at World Relays
At the World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 25, held from May 4–5, 2025, a surprising question echoed through the stadium: When did Spain become a global relay powerhouse?
In what turned out to be a landmark weekend, Spain’s women’s 4x100m team—Esperanca Cladera, Jael Bestue, Paula Sevilla, and Maria Isabel Perez—blazed to a national record 42.18 in the opening round, defeating a Jamaican squad stacked with legends like Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson.
In the final, Spain proved it wasn’t a one-off. Clocking 42.28, they finished second behind Great Britain and ahead of both Jamaica and the USA.
But they weren’t done.
In the women’s 4x400m final, Sevilla, Eva Santidrian, Daniela Fra, and Blanca Hervas delivered another shock: a gold medal performance in 3:24.13, again a national record, defeating powerhouses USA and South Africa.
The mixed 4x400m team—David Garcia, Carmen Aviles, Samuel Garcia, and Hervas—kept the momentum going, winning their heat in 3:12.55 and securing a berth at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.
A New but Growing Stage
The World Athletics Relays, launched in 2014 in Nassau, Bahamas, were designed to promote global relay competition and offer a dedicated international stage for national teams. The first three editions were held in 2014, 2015, and 2017 at Thomas Robinson Stadium. Initially intended as an annual meet, the format shifted to every odd-numbered year, aligning with the World Athletics Championships qualification calendar.
Until Guangzhou, Spain had never won a relay medal at the World Relays. Their only other global relay podium came in the form of a men’s 4x400m silver at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. And yet, in China, they were mixing it with sprinting royalty—and winning.
Why the Sudden Success?
“A lot of relay camps,” explained Jael Bestue, who also competed in the mixed 4x100m. “We work hard on baton changes and building trust. We’re like sisters.”
Though a botched handoff cost them in the mixed 4x100m, the women’s team bounced back brilliantly, executing smooth exchanges that led to their national record.
Blanca Hervas, anchor of both the women’s and mixed 4x400m squads, credited the consistent connection between teammates. “Most of our training is at home with our coaches, but we come together for camps multiple times a year. That shared bond is key.”
Santidrian, who ran the fastest split (50.58) in the 4x400m final, added: “We’re really close friends. When one of us improves, all of us improve.”
Spain’s recent success is no accident. National coach Jose Peiro Guixot traced it to a development program launched nearly a decade ago. “We created a national relay plan. The progress has been steady, and now it’s starting to show. But we’re not done—we want to keep improving.”
Even Spain’s younger athletes are feeling inspired. Andoni Calbano, part of a developmental mixed relay squad, said the women’s performance raised the bar. “Individually, we’re not the fastest. But our changes were perfect. That’s the secret.”
In the 4x100m final, Maria Perez held off a charging Shericka Jackson and Twanisha Terry to earn silver. “I was nervous,” Perez admitted. “But I just told myself: run faster.”
Then came the gold. In the 4x400m final, ‘Las Burbujas Doradas’ (The Golden Bubbles), as they’re known in Spain, stormed to victory. Hervas anchored in 50.59.
“My biggest dream came true,” said Hervas. “Gold medal, national record, World Relays champion—this is for our coaches, our families, everyone. It’s their medal too.”
posted Friday May 16th
by World Athletics with Boris Baron