Everything is ready for the Italian Championships which start on Saturday in La Spezia. It is the weekend of the highest national event with the challenges for the tricolor shirts one month before the Paris Olympics and with several big blues who thrilled at the triumphal European Championships in Rome. 16 titles up for grabs on the first day: among the key moments, the final of the 110 hurdles at 8.58pm in which the continental champion Lorenzo Simonelli is expected, world silver medalist in the 60hs, extraordinary protagonist at the Olimpico with the Italian record of 13.05. On the straight of the women’s 100m (final at 9.10pm) Zaynab Dosso is preparing to speed along, having rewritten the history of Italian speed: European bronze on the threshold of an ever-closer wall, that of eleven seconds (11.01), after third place in the World Championships in the 60 indoors.
Spotlights focused on the 5000 meters at 9.35pm to applaud Nadia Battocletti, queen of the middle distance in Europe and the first Italian woman ever to score a double (gold also in the 10,000m) in the same edition. But day 1 at the Montagna Sports Center of the Ligurian city will also see other Rome 2024 medalists in action: in the men’s 5000m (10.00pm) the silver of the half marathon Pietro Riva and the bronze of the 1500m Pietro Arese while in the 100m there is Matteo Melluzzo, European champion in the 4x100m, with Roberto Rigali who ran in the heat at the Olimpico and last season won the world silver medal around his neck.
In the last useful opportunity for Olympic qualification, to be achieved with the standard or with the placement in the ranking, the triple match with Andrea Dallavalle and Tobia Bocchi will be followed on the platform, while in the women’s competition there will be Dariya Derkach.
In the auction, Roberta Bruni and Elisa Molinarolo start in pole position, in the discus the Italian record holder Daisy Osakue, among the jumps in the competition also the women’s high jump and on the track in the 100 hurdles. The first title awarded at 2.00 pm will be the men’s hammer, then the throwing program includes the women’s and men’s javelin. At the end of the day the 4×100 meter relays.
Blue stars also in the 400m hurdles heats with European vice-champion Alessandro Sibilio and Ayomide Folorunso, and in the 400m flat heats with relay silver medalists Edoardo Scotti, Vladimir Aceti, Riccardo Meli, Brayan Lopez, Alice Mangione and Anna Polinari heading towards Sunday’s finals.
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