Spain
2018
A championship record erased mid-interview, ten medals in Berlin, and two sprint records that still stand: Spain's 2018 was cruel and abundant in the same breath.
Spain's 2018 season is remembered for two things: Óscar Husillos crossing the line first in the world indoor 400 m final — then losing it to a lane infringement — and a ten-medal European Championships in Berlin where Álvaro Martín and María Pérez both won walking gold for the first time together.
This is the season in full: Birmingham's stepped line, Peleteiro's first global medal, Hortelano's still-standing sprint records, the Berlin wall of medals — and the Joma Spain team kit of that cycle, one piece of which is in this archive.
Part of our Season Series — one year at a time. The full national story is in The History of Athletics in Spain. Jump to the 2018 kit or browse the collection.
- The heartbreak
- Husillos: 1st across the line in the world indoor 400 final (44.92 CR) — DQ for a lane step
- The medal
- Peleteiro: world indoor bronze, triple jump, 14.40 PB
- Berlin
- 10 medals (2-4-4) at the European Championships
- The two golds
- Álvaro Martín (1:20:42) and María Pérez (1:26:36) — both in the walks
- The records
- Hortelano: 44.69 (400 m) and 20.04 (200 m) — both still Spanish records in 2026
- The hurdler
- Ortega: European bronze, 13.34 — Doha's story was a year away
- Kit
- Joma — the federation's supplier since 2009
- In the archive
- 1 piece of the 2018 allocation: the team speedsuit
The Cruellest 44.92
Spain's 2018 opened with the most brutal near-miss in its indoor history. In the world indoor 400 m final in Birmingham, Óscar Husillos crossed the line first in 44.92 — a championship record — and was still doing his winner's television interview when the screen behind him showed the disqualification: a step on the lane line at the bend. The appeal was rejected the same night, the gold passed to Pavel Maslák, and the fastest indoor 400 a Spaniard has ever run officially never happened.
Plan view of the Birmingham bend. Husillos learned of the disqualification live, mid-interview. Sources: World Athletics final report; Wikipedia, 2018 World Indoor 400 m. Verified August 2026.
The Birmingham final — table view
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Time run | 44.92 — would have been a championship record |
| Infringement | Lane line stepped on at the bend (rule 163.3) |
| Appeal | Rejected the same night |
| Gold | Reallocated to Pavel Maslák |
| The answer | One year later: European indoor silver in Glasgow |
The same championships left a real medal: Ana Peleteiro jumped a personal best 14.40 — eighteen centimetres beyond her previous top — for triple jump bronze. And the summer brought a second resurrection: Bruno Hortelano, in his comeback season, took the national 400 m record to 44.69 in Madrid and the 200 m record to 20.04 at the Spanish championships. Both are still the records of Spain in 2026, and their owner retired in 2025 with them intact.
Ten Medals in Berlin
The European Championships in Berlin turned the season from cruel to abundant: ten Spanish medals, two of them gold — and both golds from the discipline that would define the next decade. Álvaro Martín won the 20 km walk in 1:20:42 and María Pérez the women's race in 1:26:36: the first joint act of the pair who would rewrite the event in Budapest five years later.
Around the walkers, the team stacked the table: silvers for Fernando Carro in the steeplechase, Diego García in the 20 km and Júlia Takacs in the 50, bronzes for Peleteiro — 14.44, doubling her championship-medal season — and for Orlando Ortega in the hurdles, plus the 4×400 and the marathon cup teams. Ortega's 13.34 was the quiet setup for what Doha would do to him a year later.
From this season · in the archiveJoma Spain Pro Elite Team 2018 SpeedsuitJoma team speedsuit from the 2018 allocation — the federation one-piece of the Berlin cycle.100,00 €View piece →The Joma Spain Kit
The Spanish team raced all of 2018 in Joma, as it has every season since 2009 — one of the longest federation partnerships in European athletics. The piece we hold from this cycle is the team speedsuit: the one-piece competition garment of the Berlin generation, federation-spec and never retailed.
Joma has dressed the Spanish federation since 2009 — every season in this series was raced in Joma. The 2018 piece in this archive is the men's team speedsuit of that allocation.
The longer arc of the team these garments belong to — from Barcelona 1992 to the Tokyo double double — is told in our history of athletics in Spain.
Spain 2018
One piece from the Spanish team's 2018 allocation — the Joma federation speedsuit of the Berlin cycle. Team one-pieces from national federations circulate less than any other garment type.
What happened to Óscar Husillos at the 2018 World Indoors?
He crossed the line first in the 400 m final in 44.92 — a championship record — and was disqualified for stepping on the lane line at the bend, learning of it mid-interview. The appeal was rejected and the gold went to Pavel Maslák. A year later he answered with European indoor silver in Glasgow.
How did Spain do at the 2018 European Championships?
Ten medals in Berlin: golds for Álvaro Martín and María Pérez in the 20 km walks — their first shared golden day — silvers for Carro, Diego García, Takacs and the marathon cup team, and bronzes for Peleteiro, Ortega, the 4×400 and the women's marathon cup.
Are Bruno Hortelano's records still standing?
Yes. The 44.69 for 400 m and 20.04 for 200 m, both set in his 2018 comeback season, remain the Spanish records in 2026. Hortelano retired in May 2025 with both intact.
What kit did Spain wear in 2018?
Joma — the federation's technical supplier since 2009. The Spain collection holds the Joma team speedsuit of the 2018 allocation.
Sources and References
- World Athletics — Birmingham 2018 men’s 400 m final report — the 44.92, the disqualification and the reallocated gold
- World Athletics — Birmingham women’s triple jump report — Peleteiro’s 14.40 personal-best bronze
- Wikipedia — Spain at the 2018 European Championships — the full ten-medal haul in Berlin
- European Athletics — Hortelano’s 44.69 — the 400 m national record of June 2018
- Wikipedia — Bruno Hortelano — both records still standing, and the May 2025 retirement