Sprinter learns he won a gold medal at the European championships during an interview and his reaction is priceless
This quote hit home for the Spanish sprinter when he learned in a post-race interview that he was the European Champion at 200 meters, because at first, he simply didn't believe it.
At this week's European Championships in Amsterdam, Hortelano finished second in the 200m dash. Nobody nobody bothered to tell him that Churancy Martina, who beat him by a mere .08 seconds, had been disqualified for stepping out of his lane.
After he was informed of the disqualification, Hortelano corrected the interviewer by insisting that he had won silver and not gold. It was "a dream" to finished second, said Hortelano. However, after seeing the result before his own eyes, an excited Hortelano celebrated by doing exactly what he does best: sprinting away.
Here's the video of the hilarious encounter:
In addition to winning his first European Championship title, Hortelano established a new Spanish national record by running 20.39 seconds in the semifinals.
Hortelano is a former All-Academic Sprinter at Cornell University where he graduated in 2014 as a Biological Engineering major. He will compete again this summer in the 100m and 200m dashes at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.