Antonella Palmisano radiated the Europeans 2024 athletics, its light has illuminated the splendid circuit set up around the Stadio dei Marmi in Rome (one thousand meters to cover nineteen times) and then was welcomed by the roar from the audience sitting in the stands of the Olympic Stadiumgraduating European champion in the 20km race walk. There Olympic champion he started with all the odds and reaffirmed his enormous technical and competitive caliber, winning the first gold medal of this continental event and making all of Italy dream.
The champion from Puglia led the race right from the start, slowly thinned out the group of the best and then placed aidly change of pace shortly after half the race, intensifying its action and quickly detaching the six direct opponents. Antonella Palmisano offered a ten kilometer solo in a unique setting in the world, constantly lowering the travel time per kilometer (for example 4:21 at the twelfth pass, just before losing the beloved lucky flower embroidered by mother, which she usually puts in her hair, then returned a pair to her come back later) and giving a clear a sign of his excessive power.
Our standard bearer, followed by her husband Lorenzo Dessi, was impeccable from a technical and tactical point of view, showing truly impeccable state of form when they are missing less than two months until the Olympics of Paris 2024. A show of rare beauty admired in the capital and which gives us hope in view of the Games, where at this point the tricolor icon of the heel and toe will present itself to try to repeat the title won three years ago at Tokyo 2020. A clear message came from the eternal city to all the opponents, starting with the Spanish Ana Perez (World Champion, absent today because she was recovering from physical ailments) and the always formidable Chinese.
The Mottola native crossed the finish line with theexcellent time of 1h28:08a very respectable time considering the great heat that gripped Rome in the last few hours (fortunately the route was largely under the shade) and which slowed down at the end to celebrate with the flag. In the season it was expressed in 1h27:27 in the Classicissima of Podebrady (third place last April 6th, third fastest time of his career) and then took part in the mixed relay at the World Team Race Walking Championships in Antalya, providing proof of excellent efficiency but unfortunately his racing partner Massimo Stano was injured and the pair did not complete the race.
This is the first continental gold of the 32-year-old’s career, who was third at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin and who also boasts two world championship bronze medals in her palmares (in 2017 in London and in 2023 in Budapest). Antonella Palmisano won with 39 seconds of advantage over the second place, or a masterful Valentina Trapletti. The 38-year-old from Lombardy, who in the spring had triumphed in the World Championships relay team with Francesco Fortunato, placed a razor near the eighteenth kilometer and stunned her rivals.
This is the first international medal at an individual level for the Italian, which has now entered a new dimension and is now truly capable of playing an outsider role at the Games. Today you improved your personal best by seventy seconds (you finished in 1h28:37). Memorable double achieved by our standard bearers, who preceded the Ukrainian Lyudmila Olyanovska (1h28:48), capable of overtaking the Spanish Laura Garcia (1h28:48) in the last five meters, who already had the flag around her neck to celebrate the bronze. Eleonora Giorgi fifteenth in 1h33:29. In the history of Europeans, it is the third gold for the Italian women’s race walk after the two victories of the unforgettable Annarita Sidoti over 10 kilometers (1990 and 1998) and the second double (silver in 1998 for Erica Alfridi).
