We leave the Birmingham and Paris exhibitions with many medals: the feats of Pellacani, Quadarella and Curtis together with those of Batocletti, Tamberi and Iapichino. And that gold in the 4×400 relay which gives us the record in the medal table
From Birmingham to Paris a blue thread crossed Europe with the exploits of the Azzurri in athletics and swimming. It was a fantastic week that ended with joys and sorrows, sport once again demonstrated how thin the line is between triumph and disappointment. For a penny Thomas Ceccon and Benedetta Pilato they lost their gold, for one centimeter Larissa Iapichino he won the long jump competition and by three hundredths the blue 4×400 relay team made up of Scotti, Sito, Soudassi and Benati won gold by narrowly beating Great Britain, allowing Italy to finish ahead of everyone in the medal table of the European championships just as happened in Rome in the last edition. And meanwhile in Paris that hundredth of a second that mocked Ceccon and Pilate denied us from triumphing there too. Always with Great Britain as a rival. Everything is beautiful, in Europe we are in charge and above all we have a great future because many stars come out of the Birmingham and Paris races and they are almost all blue.
Pellacanti, Quadarella and Curtis
Impossible to choose the blue star. The feats achieved are so enormous that it is impossible to draw up a ranking. We left with the freshness and security of Chiara Pellacanithe day before he had dreamed of winning five gold medals in diving and he succeeded. Then in the pool the spotlights went up Simona Quadarellawho after victories in the 800 and 1500 achieved the feat of also winning in the 400, a race that is certainly not his specialty. And the youngest of all, Sara Curtisamazed everyone by winning the 50 backstroke competition with the world record and then winning bronze in the 50 freestyle. Crowned by Federica Pellegrini: “Italy has never had a sprinter like her” and also by Jannik Sinner who sent him a message of congratulations.
Batocletti, Iapichino and Tamberi
A mixture of freshness and experience, of confirmations and great news. In Birmingham Nadia Batocletti she proved once again that she is the queen of the middle distance by winning the 5000m and 10000m with an exciting naturalness, that curve with crazy frequencies with which she launches herself on the straight and distances all her opponents is a masterpiece of physical strength and tactical ability. But if we expected performances like this from Nadia, it was the one who surprised everyone Gianmarco Tamberi. The Tokyo Olympic gold medalist at 34 years old is back at the highest levels, with the determination that only champions can bring out at the right time. A perfect script with gold on the day of daughter Camilla’s first birthday, tenderly in the stands in the arms of mother Chiara. After the disappointment in Paris, Gimbo told the world why he still believes in his possibilities and is aiming for the final goal of his career, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. And then Larissa Iapichinothe daughter of art who did better than mother Fiona May and won the gold right in her mother’s land and in front of all her relatives. A jump of exactly seven meters on the first attempt and then the long wait until the end. “Let’s say that from a family point of view we added a title because my mother had never won the European outdoor championship, so I’m the first. Tonight my entire maternal family (English) was there to support me and therefore it’s a gold that’s worth double. Italy will forever be my country, my heart belongs to Italy, but there is a small part of me that is a bit English and therefore winning here is truly magical.”
Everything in the relay
The European Championships in Birmingham ended with the 4×400 relay, a sort of play-off between Italy and Great Britainthe victory of the Azzurri confirmed the success of the Italian team in the medal table. It all happened a few seconds after Larissa Iapichino won gold ahead of the Englishman Jazmin Sawyers who was beaten by an inch. The Azzurri had set the best qualifying time but had an enormous weight on their shoulders: light as air, Scotti, Sito, Soudassi and Benati flew off onto the track one after the other with the last member of the team heroically resisting the return of the English. We beat the English at their home, we had already succeeded in football and now also in athletics.
