Marcell Jacobs’ heir to Mennea’s home.
Molfetta Italian Absolute Championships
In the land of Pietro Mennea, sprinting is in the limelight at the Italian Absolute Championships in Molfetta: expected European indoor 60 champion Samuele Ceccarelli, competing to capture his first overall 100 title. Releasing his reserve in the coming hours will be Olympic champion Filippo Tortu, who could go in search of the 200-meter tricolor and the Trophy named after the Arrow of the South. Super weight with the duel between Leonardo Fabbri and European indoor gold medalist Zane Weir, triple with the new Italian record holder Andy Diaz, middle distance with Pietro Arese in the 1500, hurdles with Lorenzo Simonelli, in the march the Apulian (from Andria) Francesco Fortunato. After the women’s presentation, here is the picture of the most anticipated men.
Marcell Jacobs’ reign lasted five years, from 2018 to 2022: Molfetta elects the heir to the throne in Saturday night’s 100 final. Samuele Ceccarelli’s (Atl. Firenze Marathon) fairy tale began right at the Italian Championships, in the indoor of Ancona, when as a sprinter known mostly to ‘insiders’ he was able to beat the Tokyo Olympic champion, before reaffirming his supremacy at the European indoor in Istanbul. Now Ceccarelli, among Europe’s top sprinters, goes in search of his first Italian 100 title, after proving himself a very valid performer of the distance with a 10.13 at the Golden Gala and EuroTeams in Chorzow (winning the European Cup 100 44 years after Mennea) and a 10.15 in Ostrava. On the way to the title he runs into another of the Italian relay runners who last Friday in Grosseto secured the qualification of the 4×100 at the World Championships in Budapest (38.04): first fractionalist Roberto Rigali (Bergamo Stars) who clocked 10.25 at the Modena Challenge, taking four hundredths off his personal best. It is instead of today (Wednesday) the renunciation of Olympic champion Lorenzo Patta due to a muscle discomfort that emerged in the last hours. Also among those registered are European U23 relay champions Eric Marek (Atl. Bergamo 1959 Oriocenter), Matteo Melluzzo (Fiamme Gialle), Junior Tardioli (Educare con il Movimento) and Angelo Ulisse (Fiamme Gialle).
In the 200 meters, there is optimism for Olympic 4×100 gold medalist Filippo Tortu (Fiamme Gialle) held back by a subluxation of his right shoulder while cheering on his relay performance in Grosseto: should he decide for ‘yes,’ he would try to regain an outdoor title he has been missing since 2016 (in that case in the 100). Lurking Marco Ricci (Nissolino Sport), another of the standard bearers of the 4×100 under 23 in Espoo (20.55 the leap forward in 2023), on the rise Francesco Libera (Atl. Valli di Non e Sole), while Olympic champion Fausto Desalu (Fiamme Gialle) returns after an injury at the European team championships and shoots as defending champion Diego Pettorossi (Libertas Unicusano Livorno). Indecipherable is the 400 meters, with a wide range of title candidates: the best time of the eve is the 45.39 of Italian record holder Davide Re (Fiamme Gialle) signed Saturday night in Madrid. However, the progress of Lorenzo Benati (Fiamme Azzurre), 45.51 in Chorzow, and the other European U23 champion in the 4×400 relay Riccardo Meli (Fiamme Gialle, 45.74) should be followed. More fluctuating is the performance of Edoardo Scotti (Carabinieri), however, the last to give up to defend the tricolor jersey won in 2022. Molfetta also marks the return of Vladimir Aceti (Fiamme Gialle), at the ‘first’ of the year outdoors. Others include Brayan Lopez (Fiamme Azzurre) and Espoo relay runners Francesco Domenico Rossi and Andrea Panassidi, both Cus Pro Patria Milano.
