epochal apotheosis, we had never been better than fourth!

Italy won the medal table at the European Athletics Championships. Never, not even in the most hidden thoughts and dreamy fantasies typical of children, would we have imagined that our national team would win the continental competition of the queen of sport. The Azzurri were simply stellar in the six days of competition at the Olympic Stadium in Romesigning what is in all respects one of the feats par excellence in the history of Italian sport.

Standing as masters of the Old Continent in a discipline of such high competition and rich in specialties is extremely complicated, but now Italy has become an absolute power and has richly deserved this apotheosis at home less than two months before the Paris 2024 Olympics. After having raised the good, old, legendary European Cup (ok, European team championship) to the skies only twelve months ago, the Azzurri are raising the bar and they impose themselves in the medal table of the 26th edition of this competitive event.

L‘Italy won 11 gold medals, 9 silver and 4 bronze, for a total of 24 podiums. These are record numbers: previously Italy had never achieved more than five golds and twelve medals overall, both goals achieved in Split in 1990. Again in Croatia, the best placement in history in the medal table: fourth place behind East Germany, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, to emulate what happened in Prague in 1978, when it closed behind the USSR, East Germany and West Germany.

The show goes down in the memory book Gianmarco Tamberi in the high jump, the shoulder of Leonardo Fabbri in the shot put, the sprint of Marcell Jacobs about 100 meters ahead of Chituru Alithe magic of Lorenzo Simonelli on the 110 hurdles, the solo of Antonella Palmisano in the 20km walk ahead Valentina Traplettithe lunge of Yeman Crippa in the half marathon with Pietro Riva behind him (with team seal attached), the amazing double by Nadia Battocletti on 5,000 and 10,000 meters, the broadside of Sara Fantini in the hammer throw, the apotheosis of the men’s 4×100.

Also memorable are the silver medals Alessandro Sibilio (400 hurdles) e Mattia Furlani (long jump), in addition to those of Philip Tortu (200 meters), Larissa Iapichino (long jump) and 4×400 mixed. The bronzes went around the neck of Francesco Fortunato (20 km walk), Zaynab Dosso (100 meters), Catalin Tecuceanu (800 meters) and Pietro Arese (1500 meters). Italy succeeds the United Kingdom in the roll of honor, which won in 2022 and 2018, while Poland celebrated in 2016. In history, only the Soviet Union, Germany (both unified and East), the United Kingdom, France, Poland, Russia and Sweden have won.

EUROPEAN ATHLETICS MEDALS 2024: ITALY WON

European athletics medal table 2024: Italy towards triumph, France now 6 gold medals away!

ALL ITALY’S MEDALS AT THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2024

ORI (11)

MALE (7)
100 meters: Marcell Jacobs (10.02)
110 hurdles: Lorenzo Simonelli (13.05)
High jump: Gianmarco Tamberi (2.37)
Shot put: Leonardo Fabbri (22.45)
Half marathon: Yeman Crippa (1h01:03)
Team half marathon: Italy (Yeman Crippa, Pietro Riva, Pasquale Selvarolo, Eyob Faniel, Yohanes Chiappinelli, Daniele Meucci: 3h03:33)
4×100: Italy (Matteo Melluzzo, Marcell Jacobs, Lorenzo Patta, Filippo Tortu: 37.82)

WOMEN (4)
5,000 meters: Nadia Battocletti (14:35.29)
10,000 meters: Nadia Battocletti (30:51.32)
20 km walk: Antonella Palmisano (1h28:08)
Hammer throw: Sara Fantini (74.18)

SILVER (9)

MALE (7)
100 metres: Chituru Ali (10.05)
200 metres: Filippo Tortu (20.41)
400 hurdles: Alessandro Sibilio (47.50)
Long jump: Mattia Furlani (8.38)
Long jump: Larissa Iapichino (6.94)
Half marathon: Pietro Riva (1h01:04)
Men’s 4×400: Italy (Luca Sito, Vladimir Aceti, Lorenzo Meli, Edoardo Scotti: 3:00.81)

WOMEN (1)
20 km walk: Valentina Trapletti (1h28:37)

MIXED (1)
4×400: Italy (Luca Sito, Anna Polinari, Edoardo Scotti, Alice Mangione: 3:10.69)