Larissa Iapichino enters the history of Italian athletics. In the stage of the Diamond League in Eugene, Oregon, the 24-year-old Florentine jumped 7.12 metres, improving by one centimeter the historic Italian long distance record held by Fiona May since 22 August 1998. A record that had stood for 28 years and was the second longest in Italian women’s athletics, behind only Gabriella Dorio’s 800 metres, dated 5 July 1980.
Record for first jump and second place
The measurement arrived immediately on the first attempt, with a regular wind of +1.8 meters per second. A perfect leap, which is also worth the best European performance of the season and relaunches the Italian’s ambitions in view of the European Championships in August in Birmingham. The race was then won by the American Tara Davis-Woodhall, capable of responding immediately with a leap of 7.13, leaving the Italian a prestigious second place.
For Iapichino it is the best measurement of his career, even higher than the 7.06 obtained in Palermo in May 2025. The Fiamme Oro standard bearer found an impeccable run-up and an almost perfect serve, leaving very few centimeters on the axis.
This closes a historical chapter that began with the progress of Antonella Capriotti at the end of the 1980s and continued with the extraordinary rise of Fiona May, who between 1994 and 1998 adjusted the Italian record several times up to the 7.11 achieved at the European Championships in Budapest. Today that record belongs to his daughter, who signs the most symbolic handover of Italian athletics.