A gala evening for Italian athletics: the second day of the European championships in Rome ends on a high note with the golds of Marcel Jacobs in the 100 meters, Leonardo Fabbri in shot put, Lorenzo Simonelli in the 110 hurdles, the silver of Chituru Ali in the 100 meters, the other silver Mattia Furlani in the long jump, more the bronze by Francesco Fortunato in the 20 kilometer walk. So the Italian national team honors the home European Championships in the best possible way, lighting up the Olimpico with real flashes of class.
Phenomenal double
The highlight of the evening was of course the highly anticipated final of the men’s 100 metres, which saw Marcel Jacobs as the protagonist, awaiting a test that would revise the caliber of the man who won Olympic gold three years ago. With him in the starting blocks there is also Chituru Ali for Italy, while the Sicilian Melluzzo was left out due to an unfortunate semi-final heat. However, at 11pm sharp the starter’s shot goes off, starting the race winning progression with which Jacobs returns to win the European titleafter the gold in Monaco 2022. The time with which the blue finished ahead of everyone was 10.02. But the big surprise is Ali’s silverwith a time of 10.05, which closes a crazy day for Italian athletics.
Audience favourite
Before this it was Lorenzo Simonelli who defeated the competition with a sensational and unexpected performance, clocking a time of 13.05 which earned him the Italian record. The Roman, fresh from an encouraging semi-final heat, in the decisive race put everything he had on his home track, Italian for him and moreover Roman. And certainly the push of the Capitoline public, who made their support for their favorite felt, had a fundamental role in the exploits of the new European champion in the 110 hurdles.
Perfect race
The perfect race then was that of Fabbriwho arrived as the favourite, and which legitimized his dominance in the European shot put placing a great 22.45 meters as best performance, with which he surpassed the previous 22.12. A triumph therefore for the Italian thrower, who at the Olympics will compete against the Americans in a race that already promises to be spectacular.
Under 20 records
And again at the Paris Games the fantastic duel between Furlani and Tentoglou in the long jump. The two went head-to-head tonight, until the Greek (reigning Olympic champion) posted an extraordinary time of 8.65. Therefore, a silver of great value arrives for the blue phenomenonachieved already on the first jump with an 8.38 which earned him the Under 20 world record.
(photo Facebook – Rome 2024)
