Álex Sangil (Alzira, Valencia, 2009) captured the bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games this Monday. The athlete from Safor Teika Athletics Club finished third in 3:59.70, behind Ethiopian Wabi Seblega, champion with 3:58.73, and Sri Lankan Lahiru Don, silver with 3:59.08. At 17 years old, the Valencian adds middle-distance to the Spanish athletics medal tally at this competition for the first time.
🥉 Spain’s sixth medal 🏃♂️ Álex Sangil wins bronze in the 1500m at #Dakar2026 with a time of 3:59.70 #OlympicGames https://t.co/hI25NAGMWf
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) November 9, 2026
Sangil clinched bronze after seizing the initiative in a final that began at a very slow pace. The pack covered the first lap in 1:06.90 and reached 1000 metres at around 2:50, setting off a dizzying final third of the race.
The Spaniard took the lead with one lap to go and, when the surges began with 500 metres to the finish, he defended the top position and jockeyed the line. Sangil held the lead at the bell and through the first bend of the last lap, until Seblega passed him on the back straight. The Valencian ceded second place to Don as they entered the final straight, but he withstood the challenge from Mexican Enrique Ramírez, who crossed the line in fourth with 4:00.29.
A new chapter in Spanish athletics history
Until Dakar, Spanish athletics had secured four medals across the three previous editions of the Youth Olympic Games. Dídac Salas opened that history with gold in the pole vault in Singapore 2010, and Noel del Cerro repeated the title in the same event in Nanjing 2014. In Buenos Aires 2018, María Vicente took silver in triple jump and Carla García bronze in the 400 metres hurdles.
Sangil now opens a new space in that history: the 1500 metres. His medal adds to the gold won this Sunday by Gift Okunrobo in the triple jump in Dakar, extending Spain’s presence on the podium in a competition in which the athletics team participates with seven athletes.
Five medals in 2026
The Dakar bronze completes a season marked by consistency across different surfaces, dates, and venues. Sangil started the year with third place at the Spanish Under-18 Cross Country Championship held in Almodóvar del Río, and subsequently translated that form onto the track. He was twice Spanish national runner-up in the 1500 metres—indoor in Antequera and outdoor in Castellón.
The international leap came in July, at the European Under-18 Championships in Rieti. There he earned bronze and brought Spain back onto the men’s podium in the 1500 metres of this championship ten years after its previous medal. In Dakar he added a second international bronze to that balance, bringing the total to five individual medals across the Spanish Championships, the European Championships, and the Youth Olympic Games.
The progression is also reflected on the clock. On June 18, at the City of Málaga International Meeting, Sangil ran the 1500 metres in 3:43.28, the second-best ever Spanish under-18 mark, less than a second from Reyes Estévez’s record.
A month later he returned to Málaga to compete at the Spanish Absolute Championships. At 17, he was the youngest of the 33 competitors in the 1500 metres. The experience of testing himself against the country’s top specialists formed part of a learning process in which he has combined improving his marks with the ability to contend for medals.
The athlete coached by Vicente Torres, “Pirri” in Guadassuar, will enter 2027 as a first year under 20. The European Championship in Bydgoszcz, Poland, stands out as one of his next goals, along with the clock barrier of 3:40.
