Dallavalle and Ihemeje one step away from the world podium

World Championships in Eugene

The podium, and then the Azzurri. One after another, fourth and fifth. World bronze is not far away for Andrea Dallavalle, fourth in the world with 17.25 (-0.2), six centimeters behind third-place Chinese Zhu Yaming (17.31/-0.8). Instead, there is fifth place for Emmanuel Ihemeje who was able to jump 17.17 in the last round, pushed by +2.6 wind behind, and thus overtake the U.S. Donald Scott (17.14/+0.9). Overall, it was an extremely positive choral performance for the Italian triple jump ten years after Fabrizio Donato’s Olympic bronze in London and Daniele Greco’s fourth place. Never had an Italian placed fourth at the World Championships: at best, before today, Paolo Camossi’s fifth place in Seville with the then Italian record of 17.29.

Even with the inevitable sorrow for a medal that was never so close, Dallavalle lands for all intents and purposes among the world’s hop-step-jump bigwigs, advancing decisively from ninth place at the Tokyo Olympics: “The goal was to improve on the placement of the Games – his words – it was a very consistent race, I only eat my hands a little for the second jump: I felt it was very good and instead I got off balance.”

The longest jump was the first, the 17.25 that propelled him to virtual bronze, an elation that lasted just a few minutes, until Zhu’s 17.31, which will remain the figure for third place. Meanwhile, Portugal’s Pedro Pablo Pichardo had already nabbed the final with a sumptuous 17.95 (+0.3), the best world performance of 2022, forty centimeters more than Fabrice Hugues Zango’s 17.55 (+1.4) valid for silver heading Burkina Faso. In fact, the situation is crystallized until the end, with the Piacentine trained by Ennio Buttò who also leaves on the sand a 17.16, gives up the third jump, continues with 17.12 and closes with two nulls.

Also to be applauded is home idol Ihemeje, from Bergamo, a student at the University of Oregon, who earns the three final jumps with a 17.03 (+0.5) in the second round and then increases on the last run: “It took me a couple of jumps to find the rhythm,” he says, “Now head down, keep working, and believe in it until the end.