Many stars of Italian athletics will compete on Saturday 27 April. The most awaited man is without a doubt Marcell Jacobs. The Olympic 100 meters champion will return to the stage 230 days after his last competitive appearance. The Lombard sprinter will take to the track to race on the straight Jacksonville (Florida, USA)where he has been training at Rana Reider’s court for several months.
The 29-year-old will appear on the starting blocks around 9.30pm Italian time (3.30pm local time) with a dual objective: to test his physical condition in view of the big seasonal events and to try to get below the ten-second barrier to obtain the minimum qualification at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The Italian will face elite opponents, including the American Trayvon Bromell, the Canadian Andre De Grasse and the Japanese Hakim Sani Brown.
In Suzhou (China), however, we will see Mattia Furlani at work, engaged in the second stage of the Diamond League (the maximum traveling international circuit). The young Lazio native, silver in the long jump at the last Indoor World Championships, will be competing starting at 1.39pm Italian time (7.39pm local time) against great big names such as two former world champions (the Jamaican Tajay Gayle and the Chinese Wang Jianan) and the Jamaican Carey McLeod beaten last month during the world championship in the hall. Will the relevant measurement arrive immediately for the 19-year-old, capable of flying at 8.34 meters in winter?
In the morning, however, Yeman Crippa will compete in the 10 kilometers in Herzogenaurach (Germany) with a single objective: to get his hands on the only Italian record he is missing in the distance, given that he currently holds the national records of 3,000, 5,000, 10,000 metres, 5 km on the road, half marathon and marathon. The Trentino rider will need to get below the 27:50 mark to overtake Pietro Riva and Yohanes Chiappinelli.
In Milan, however, in the late afternoon, Nadia Battocletti will be followed, who will test himself in the 1500 meters, a distance in which he aims to qualify for the Olympics. They will also race at the Arena Civica Giannia Brera Catalin Tecuceanu over 1000 meters (fourth over 800 at the last Indoor World Championships) and Pietro Arese at 5000 metres.
