Manuel Martínez Gutiérrez

Manuel Martínez
Personal information
Full name Manuel Martínez Gutiérrez
Nickname(s) Gentle Giant, Supermanolo
Nationality Spanish
Born December 7, 1974 (1974-12-07) (age 37)
León, Spain
Height 1.85 metres (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 140 kilograms (310 lb)
Sport
Country Spain
Sport Track and field
Event(s) Shot put
Club C.D. Universidad León Atletismo
Coached by Carlos Burón
Retired 29 April 2011[1]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) Indoor: 21.26 metres (69 ft 9 in)
Outdoor: 21.47 metres (70 ft 5 in) (2002)

Manuel "Manolo" Martínez Gutiérrez (born December 7, 1974) is a retired Spanish shot putter. Nicknamed the "Gentle Giant", his personal best throw outdoors is 21.47 metres and he has an indoor best of 21.26 m. These marks are the Spanish national records for the event. His international career lasted from 1992 to 2011 and he earned national selection on 84 occasions – the most by any Spanish athlete.[2]

Born in León, Spain, he established himself as a junior athlete at the age of seventeen by winning the silver medal at the World Junior Championships and becoming the European Junior Champion the following year. His first major medals as a senior thrower came indoors when he won silver at the 2000 European Athletics Indoor Championships and then secured the bronze at the 2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships.[2]

His career highlights also came indoors, as he won at the 2002 European Indoor Championships and went on to take the gold medal at the 2003 World Indoor Championships. Although he did not win an Olympic or outdoor world medal in his career, he came close on several occasions, including fourth place finishes at the 2001 World Championships and the 2004 Athens Olympics.[2]

He represented Spain at the Olympics four times consecutively from 1996 to 2008, and also competed at five consecutive editions of the European Athletics Championships. He participated in the shot put at every World Championships in Athletics from 1993 to 2009, with the sole exception of the 1999 event.[2]

In other competitions, he was a two-time gold medallist at the Mediterranean Games (2001 and 2009), including a Games record of 21.03 m,[3] won gold at the 2001 Summer Universiade,[4] and won three titles at the Ibero-American Championships.[5] He was also the bronze medallist at the 2001 Goodwill Games, 2004 IAAF World Athletics Final, and 2005 European Indoor Championships.

Martínez improved Spanish national records on 31 occasions in his career. He won 16 consecutive outdoor national titles in the shot put from 1993 to 2008, and also won 15 indoor titles.[6] He competed domestically for C.D. Universidad León Atletismo and was coached by Carlos Burón.[7] Martínez retired from competitive athletics in April 2011.[2]

Outside of shot putting, he is an artist and an actor.[2] He starred in Estigmas, a film directed by Adán Aliaga and produced by Jaibo Films.[8] The film is adapted from Lorenzo Mattotti's comic, Stigmate.[9] He performed the role of Goliath in 2011 film El Capitán Trueno y el Santo Grial.[10]

International performances

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
1992 World Junior Championships Seoul, South Korea 2nd
Ibero-American Championships Seville, Spain 2nd
1993 European Junior Championships San Sebastián, Spain 1st [11]
Mediterranean Games Narbonne, France 5th
World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 11th
1994 European Indoor Championships Paris, France 4th
Ibero-American Championships Mar del Plata, Argentina 2nd
European Championships Helsinki, Spain 7th (qualifying)
1995 World Indoor Championships Barcelona, Spain 4th
World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 11th (qualifying)
1996 European Indoor Championships Estocolmo, Sweden 7th
Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 15th 19.12 m
1997 World Indoor Championships Paris, France 5th
Universiade Catania, Italy 7th
World Championships Athens, Greece 8th (qualifying)
1998 European Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 6th
Ibero-American Championships Lisbon, Portugal 1st
European Championships Munich, Germany 7th [12]
1999 World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 4th
2000 European Indoor Championships Ghent, Belgium 2nd
Ibero-American Championships Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st
Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 6th
2001 World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 3rd
European Cup Bremen, Germany 1st
World Championships Edmonton, Canada 4th 20.91 m
Universiade Beijing, China 1st 20.16 m
Mediterranean Games Radès, Tunisia 1st 21.03 CR[3]
Goodwill Games Brisbane, Australia 3rd
2002 European Indoor Championships Vienna, Austria 1st
European Championships Munich, Germany 5th 20.45 m
World Cup Madrid, Spain 6th
2003 European Indoor Cup Leipzig, Germany 2nd
World Indoor Championships Birmingham, England 1st
European Cup Florence, Italy 1st
World Championships Paris, France 8th (qualifying)
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 4th
2004 World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 5th
Ibero-American Championships Huelva, Spain 1st
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 4th 20.84 m
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 3rd
2005 European Indoor Championships Madrid, Spain 3rd
European Cup Florence, Italy 2nd
Mediterranean Games Almería, Spain 2nd [3]
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 9th (qualifying)
2006 European Indoor Cup Liévin, France 3rd
World Indoor Championships Moscow, Russia 6th
European Cup Málaga, Spain 2nd
European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 9th 19.68 m
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 8th
2007 European Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 14th (qualifying)
World Championships Osaka, Japan NM
2008 World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 14th (qualifying)
Olympic Games Beijing, China 10th (qualifying)
2009 European Indoor Championships Turin, Italy 6th
European Team Championships Leiria, Portugal 2nd
Mediterranean Games Pescara, Italy 1st
World Championships Berlin, Germany 19th 19.80 m
2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 25th 18.08 m
2011 European Indoor Championships Paris, France 19th (qualifying)

References

Competition statistics

External links