The title that, perhaps, he wanted most has arrived. Alberto Nonino, representative of Atletica Malignani, became Italian Under 23 decathlon champion.
In Lana, during the tricolor multiple youth events, the 20-year-old from Friuli won the championship in his first year in the category. He did it after two days of high profile races, finishing with 7331 points.
A result resulting from four personal bests and a demonstration of great maturity. During the winter season, in fact, an injury forced Margherita Tosca’s student to skip the indoor tests and postpone the start of the summer training.
He didn’t give up and pushed until he got up there, to that first place that ennobles a difficult season.
«I’m happy, I started training as I want again and now I’m fine – says Nonino -. Lana didn’t have it easy. It was the third decathlon of the season in which I had participated and, in the previous two, I had encountered three zeros on the pole vault entrance measurement, an aspect that had effectively ruined my overall performance.
Before taking to the stage for the auction in Alto Adige I was very tense. However, I managed to manage the tension and also got to the personal level. It was the test I was most proud of.”
The 20-year-old from Friuli reached a score of 4.80. He established his new limit that he deserved already in 2023, when he became Italian junior champion and earned a call-up for the U20 European Championships in Jerusalem.
Nonino achieved the other new records in the shot put (12.10), in the 110 hurdles (14”68, 1.3 with the wind in favour), in the javelin throw (45.07) and in the high jump (1 ,95).
Very positive improvements in the last two disciplines, which among the four nominated did not undergo changes compared to the junior category. The other two did: with the move to the Under 23s the weight goes from 6 to 7.257 kg, while the hurdles go up from 100 cm to 106 cm.
In the other events Nonino set 11”15 (-1.0 the wind) in the 100, 6.79 (+0.1) in the long run, 49”88 in the 400, 37.54 in the discus and 4’39”89 in the 1500 «During preparation – explains Nonino – I focused a lot on throwing, given the changes in weight (the discus is now 2 kg, no longer 1.75, ed.). I also did this to the detriment of other disciplines, which I will now have time to work on.”
With 7331 points achieved in Lana, the town of Gertrud Bacher, former Italian heptathlon record holder and organizer of the multiple event championships, Nonino approached the minimum for the 2025 European U23 championships in Bergen (Norway). The limit is set at 7400: very little left.
«A goal for next season», he claims. Which can hit the mark.
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