Last day of competitions at the European Championships in Rome with Italy wanting to complete an unforgettable medal table, which allowed the Azzurri to beat all the records of podiums obtained in continental events. Larissa Iapichino can aim for a medal in the long jump, as can the three relay teams (men’s 4×100 and the two 4×400) that reached the final and Pietro Arese and Pietro Riva in a top-level 1500.
Let’s start with the series B of the 10000 meters where the three Italians, Francesco Guerra, Ahmed Ouhdaa and Luca Ursano will be competing. However, they will not be competing for Yeman Crippa and Federico Riva resign, already satisfied with the half marathon podium. The first final of the day does not see the Azzurri at the start with a hint of regret and it is the men’s pole vault. The favorite for dispersion is the world record holder and champion of everything Armand Duplantis, who is looking for his third success and aims to match two other great names of the past, the French Renaud Lavillenie and the German Wolfgang Nordwig, the latter winner over fifty years ago. The Swedish phenomenon, current world record holder with 6.24 metres. Prices are high for the other German Torben Blech and for the Greek Emmanouil Karalis, world indoor bronze. There are those who aspire to a good European Championship the Turkish Sasma, the French Collet and the proven Polish Lisek, who, however, has never reached the podium in a European summer championship.
In the javelin final, a new clash is expected between the top two finishers from the European Championships from two years ago: the German Julian Weber and the Czech Jakub Vadlejch, who collected five medals globally, despite missing the gold one. The best seasonal credit belongs to another German, the nineteen year old Max Dehning, the only one to exceed 90 meters this year, although currently his performances have stabilized around 80 meters and he struggled a lot in qualifying. Among the other protagonists, another U23 talent, the Ukrainian Artur Felfner, the Polish Marcin Krukowski and the Finns Lassi Etelätalo (bronze in Munich) and Oliver Helander, the latter currently the best in his country.
Following is one of the most awaited matches for Italian fans: the women’s long jump. The wait is all for the German champion Malaika Mihambo, the only one from the Monaco podium still in the race. Absent the gold medalist Ivana Spanovic two years ago (her fearsome compatriot will be present Milica Gardasevic) and the British Jazmin Sawyers, bronze, out due to injury. Until yesterday, the best continental outdoor measurement was that of the Italian one Larissa Iapichino, silver at the European Indoor Championships, with a jump of 6.86 meters in Palermo. Among the other athletes with the best recent performances are the Germans Maryse Luzolo and Mikaelle Assani, and Portuguese Evelise Veiga, as well as the Romanian Alina Rotaru-Kottmann, the Spanish Fatima Diame, the French Hilary Kpatcha.
In the women’s 4×400 Monaco the Netherlands led by Femke Bol won, followed by Poland and Great Britain. Since then, the Dutch team has won world outdoor and indoor gold, as well as European indoor gold. He comes to Rome with a solid chance of confirming the title from two years ago, thanks also to the strong foundations of Bol and Klaver, even if yesterday in the semi-final he risked being left out. The teams of Poland, Ireland, France and Italy, in addition to the quartet Belgian, they are all competitive. Curiosity: in the last seven editions, the title has always been won by a different nation: Russia (absent), Germany, Ukraine, France, Great Britain, Poland and Holland. The blues are Ilaria Accame, Alessandra Bonora, Rebecca Borga, Ayomide Folorunso, Alice Mangione, Anna Polinari, Giancarla Trevisan, Virginia Troiani.
In the men’s 4×400, Great Britain won ten golds in the history of the European Championships, including the Roman edition of 1974. The British team has been on the podium continuously since Athens 1982 and has shared successes with Belgium in the last five editions (two British victories and three Belgian victories). The Belgians are the big favorites in Rome, Italy (with Sito and Sibilio more in the engine) is solid and even the French, silver in Budapest, have the qualities to aim for top positions. For the blues Vladimir Aceti, Lapo Bianciardi, Brayan Lopez, Riccardo Meli, Edoardo Scotti, Alessandro Sibilio and Luca Sito.
There will be no Italians at the start in the women’s 800 final. Disappointment for the absence of Bellò and Coiro, eliminated badly in the heat. The British star Keely Hodgkinson aims to repeat the success achieved two years ago and equal the two gold medals of the Yugoslavian Nikolic in the 70s and the Ukrainian Pryshchepa in more recent times. The extraordinary form she showed in Eugene in the Diamond League and also yesterday in the semi-final confirmed the superiority of the twenty-two year old Briton, who therefore starts as the favourite. Many athletes are able to reach the final and compete for positions behind Hodgkinson, the Finnish Maattanen, the Slovak Gajanova, the German Kolberg and the French Kandissounon and Bourgoin. Switzerland is betting everything on Hoffmann.
Among the protagonists of final A of the 10000 men will be the Frenchman Yann Schrub, bronze two years ago, together with well-known faces such as the Spaniard Thierry Ndikumwenayo and the Swiss Dominic Lobalu. Swedish too Andreas Almgren, who is enjoying the best season of his career, and the other Frenchman Jimmy Gressier are expected at the start. The Spanish is also among the favourites Ouassim Oukhelfen, the British Patrick Dever and Emile Cairess Leonard, and the Belgian Isaac Kimeli.
Following the final of one of the most anticipated races of the entire European Championship, that of the 1500 metres. Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, after dominating the 5000m, is looking for his third consecutive gold, but this time he won’t have to contend with the British couple who beat him in the past at the world championships, Jake Wightman and Josh Kerr. To counter the Norwegian phenomenon, there are the British Neil Gourley, the Spaniards Fontes and Mechaal and several other specialists, including the Italians who are experiencing a golden period, such as the new Italian record holder Pietro Arese, Federico Riva and Ossama Meslek. A very close race is expected, even if Ingebrigtsen remains the clear favorite for the gold medal.
In closing the final of the women’s 4×100. In Munich, Germany, Poland and Italy shared the podium. The Italians started with the second best seasonal score but they will not be at the start due to Dalia Kaddari’s injury which knocked them out. Waiting for the British team which, due to its value and tradition, is the favorite for the gold. Other teams aiming for prominence include Spain, France, Holland, Germany and Switzerland.
The last race on the track is highly anticipated in Italy: the 4×100 men. In the last four European championships, Great Britain has always won gold, from Zurich to Amsterdam, from Berlin to Munich but this time it won’t be there due to the mistake in the semi-final. Italy, which has not reached the podium since the silver in Barcelona in 2010, can boast the Olympic gold, the world silver and the best European performance of the season with a time of 38.14 obtained at the World Relays in Nassau. Holland, France and Germany are among the favorite teams for the podium at the Olimpico. For Italy Fausto Desalu, Marcell Jacobs, Filippo Tortu, Matteo Melluzzo, Lorenzo Patta, Marco Ricci, Roberto Rigali and Lorenzo Simonelli.
