Even without Marcell Jacobs – who preferred to return to Florida to spend a few days with his family – the Italian Absolute Championships of today and tomorrow in La Spezia they will be full of ideas for the athletes from Brescia still fighting for the Olympic pass. The objective, in La Spezia, is to convince the coaches that they are worth a place in the relay, or collect the points necessary to qualify individually.
In speed the Camuno Roberto Rigali he will challenge Matteo Melluzzo in the 100 meters to win the first overall Italian title in his career on the straight. The favourite, considering the seasonal results, is Melluzzo, author of 10”13 at the Rome Sprint Festival and then fooled in the semi-final of the European Championships by a false start that he didn’t realize. Rigali instead starts from a seasonal time of 10”31. Also competing Andrea Federiciwho will play his cards especially in the 200m. At Sestriere, Federici became, with 20”35, the fifth Italian ever, but in Liguria, in the absence of Filippo Tortu, he will have to deal with Fausto Desalu (three titles: 2016, 2017, 2021), Diego Pettorossifresh from staff at 20”45, and Luca Siteimpressive at the European Championships in the 400m.
In the 800 the favorite is Simone Barontini, four-time winner in the last five years, but Francesco Pernici will aim for a great time rather than success in order to hope in extremis to qualify for Paris through the ranking. The Camuno middle-distance runner was within the target number until last week, but after the weekend’s results he has dropped out of the ranks of the qualified.
Barring exceptional events in Liguria, the hurdlers are currently out of the Games. In the 110, Hassane Fofana, who has won six Italian outdoor titles, the first in 2013, is now forced into the role of page to the rising star Lorenzo Simonelli, but for second place the Gavardese will be able to have his say. The podium is also an objective in the 100 hurdles for Elena Carraro, among the top four in the country. In the 400 Alessandra Bonora defends the title won last year, but the favorite is Alice Mangione. In the 4×100 Atletica Brescia 1950 has never lost in the last five years and this time they have an extra reason to give themselves the tricolor: to honor the memory of Stefano Martinelli.
