José Luis González Sánchez (born 8 December 1957 in Villaluenga de la Sagra,

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

) is a Spanish former

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

. He 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 three occasions (1980, 1984, 1992) with his best performance being a semi-final run in the 1500 m in 1980.Jose Luis Gonzalez
Sports Reference. Retrieved 2020-02-01. Gonzalez won a 1500 m silver medal at the

1987 World Championships in Athletics The 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987. Men's results Track 1983 , 1987 , ...

behind

Abdi Bile Abdi Bile (, ; born 28 December 1962) is a former middle distance runner. He holds the highest number of national records in athletics in Somalia across various disciplines. He is currently Somalia's national record holder in nine athletic disc ...

, and also won

IAAF World Indoor Championships The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

silver medals in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. He appeared six times 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 ...

, starting with a junior silver medal in 1975. He competed 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 1986 and 1990, and was a six-time champion at the

European Athletics Indoor Championships The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skil ...

. Among his other international honours are a silver medal at the

1983 Mediterranean Games The IX Mediterranean Games (), commonly known as the 1983 Mediterranean Games, were the 9th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Casablanca, Morocco, from 3 to 17 September 1983, where 2,192 athletes (1,845 men and 347 women) from 16 coun ...

, and wins at the 1987 European Cup and

1983 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics The 1983 Ibero-American Championships (Spanish: ''I Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo'') was an athletics competition which was held at the Estadi Serrahima in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain from 23 to 25 September 1983. A total of 37 events w ...

. He was a seven-time Spanish national champion, winning four 1500 m titles and a 5000 m crown at the

Spanish Athletics Championships The Spanish Athletics Championships () is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA), which serves as the Spanish national championship for the sport. It is typically held as a two-day e ...

, plus two victories at the Spanish Cross Country Championships. He was one of the world's fastest

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

runners of the 1980s – in a race in Nice in 1985, Gonzalez came third behind

Steve Cram Stephen Cram, (born 14 October 1960) is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle-distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arro ...

and

Saïd Aouita Saïd Aouita (; born November 2, 1959) is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. He is the only athlete in history to have won a medal in each of the 800 meters and 5000 meters at the Olympic games. He won the 5000 meters at the 1984 Summer Oly ...

, who became the first man to run the distance below 3:30 minutes. Gonzalez set a Spanish record of 3:30.92 minutes and a few weeks later also ran a national record in the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards, 5,280 Foot (unit), feet, or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance running, middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling ...

with 3:47.79 minutes. He was chosen at the Spanish sportsman of the year in 1986. He received the silver medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit in 1994 from the

Consejo Superior de Deportes The National Sports Council, also called Supreme Sports Council or High Council for Sports (, CSD) is a Spanish government autonomous agency responsible for the promotion, planning and development of physical culture and sports activities of any ...

Statistics

Personal bests

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

– 1:47.14 (1984) *

– 3:30.92 (1985) *

Mile run The mile run (1,760 yards, 5,280 Foot (unit), feet, or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance running, middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling ...

– 3:47.79 (1985) *

2000 metres The 2000 metres or 2000-metre run is a track running event where five laps are completed around an outdoor 400 m track, or ten laps around a 200 m indoor track - the distance is 11.68 meters short of 1¼ miles. The global governing body World At ...

– 5:02.25 (1985) *

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

– 7:42.93 (1987) *

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

– 13:12.34 (1987)

International competitions

National titles

* Spanish Cross Country Championships: 1980, 1981 *

**1500 m:

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

**5000 m:

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Circuit wins

;1500 m *

Meeting de Paris Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Di ...

: 1983 * Helsinki Grand Prix: 1985, 1986 *

Fifth Avenue Mile The Fifth Avenue Mile is an annual road race on Fifth Avenue in New York City, United States. The race begins at 80th Street and heads twenty blocks south to 60th Street. First held on September 26, 1981, the race is currently organized by ...

: 1986 * Míting Internacional d´Atletisme Ciutat de Barcelona: 1987 *

London Grand Prix The London Athletics Meet, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games and London Diamond League, is an annual athletics event held in London, England. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix even ...

: 1987 ;Mile *

ISTAF Berlin The Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) is an annual track and field athletics meeting at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany. It was first held in July 1921 at the Deutsches Stadion, which was replaced from 1937 by the Stadium of the 1936 ...

: 1987 ;3000 m * DN-Galan: 1987

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Jose Luis 1957 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Toledo Spanish male middle-distance runners Spanish male cross country runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Spain World Athletics Championships athletes for Spain World Athletics Championships medalists Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Mediterranean Games World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Spanish Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Spanish sportsmen