The triumphal expedition of the Azzurri at the European Athletics Championships ends with a final apotheosis, which sees them first in the final medal table (10 gold and 22 medals overall). First a surgical Larissa Iapichino takes care of it in the long jump, then the men’s 4×400 relay team of Edoardo Scotti, Luca Sito, Mohamed Soudassi and Lorenzo Benati which in the very last race of the event finishes ahead of the hosts Great Britain, on a day that opened in the morning with two silvers in the marathon (that of Pietro Riva, the women’s team one) and which in the evening also sees the bronze of the women’s 4×400 by Alessandra Bonora, Anna Polinari, Alice Mangione and Eloisa Coiro.
We needed to get in front immediately, in the cold Birmingham night, and so Larissa Iapichino did. Seven meters clear on the first leap, not an impossible distance, not her best, yet enough to put pressure on everyone, in a race conditioned by the wind that blows from behind and causes many missed jumps (especially for the German favorite Malaika Mihambo) and by the cold that forces the athletes to cover their legs with plaids between one test and another. The margin between them is very small: the English Jazmin Sawyers jumps 6.99, the French Hilary Kpatcha 6.98. A question of centimeters, but the Florentine’s measure resists strenuously and gives her her first gold in a major international event. In a European Championship of confirmations, surprises and great returns, even on the toughest distance tests Italy excelled. In the marathon always placed at the end of the event, Italy does not disappoint: in fact, Pietro Riva wins silver and that of the girls in the team classification, which adds the times of the three best athletes (Rebecca Lonedo, Sofiia Yaremchuk and Giovanna Epis).
And then the relays, because the mixed 4x100m failed due to a wrong change but the 4x400m responded. The Italians remain in the lead for two fractions, then lose ground in the third, but Eloisa Coiro, after setting the Italian record in the 800, decides she also wants a medal, and consolidates third place by reaching bronze with a good margin. But above all it is the performance of the men, driven by a late second half by Sito and by a gigantic Soudassi, not yet twenty years old, in third, with Benati not giving in an inch to the British comeback. “It’s the strongest Italy ever – says the national team director Antonio La Torre without reservations this time – «This expedition is better than the one in Rome. We have made what seemed unrepeatable almost repeatable. Competing in a nation that has an immense culture, and being able to hold its own against Great Britain until the end, is something superlative. From this expedition comes a huge boost for the next two years: Los Angeles 2028 destination». «Jacobs’ injury could have turned the tide week in another way – observes La Torre – We immediately got together and the captains gave the push to the others: within a strong team everyone feels involved and becomes stronger. It must be the spirit of the next two years and it has been very excited: this is the atmosphere that has been felt throughout the week curtain on the continental event, the gaze is already overseas: in two years the Los Angeles Games will take place. «The debriefing will take place in a month, we will see what needs to be changed – underlines La Torre -. We are lucky: the pressure of the new generations is waking up even some who have been sitting back. The goal is to bring a lot of strength, energy and young talent to the Olympics Inzoli, as well as the return of Furlani.”