Francesco Pernici Makes History, Breaking Fiasconaro’s Record After 53 Years

Francesco Pernici makes history in Italian track and field. In Nancy, France, the 23-year-old from the Fiamme Gialle won the 800-meter race in 1:43.60, setting a new Italian record and breaking the 53-year-old mark of 1:43.7 set by Marcello Fiasconaro on June 27, 1973, at the Arena in Milan.

The middle-distance runner from Brescia, who grew up in Niardo in the Camonica Valley and is coached by Dalmazio Bersini, achieved this feat with an aggressive race, taking control of the race and fending off the final surges of France’s Louey Ouerrat (1:43.81) and Spain’s David Barroso (1:43.83) in the final stretch. This was a result he had long pursued and had nearly achieved last season, when he ran 1:43.84 at the World Championships in Tokyo, missing a spot in the final by just four hundredths of a second.

At the Silver meeting of the Continental Tour, after Algerian pacer Khaled Benmahdi passed the 400-meter mark in 50.37, Pernici picked up the pace, took the lead, and held it all the way to the finish line. With a time of 1:43.60, he broke one of Italian athletics’ longest-standing records and moved into second place on the European season rankings, trailing only Britain’s Max Burgin (1:42.98) and tied with the Netherlands’ Niels Laros.

Signs of his excellent form had already emerged in recent weeks. In early June, he ran 1:43.97 at the Golden Gala in Rome, while his personal best of 46.24 in the 400 meters in Brescia confirmed his excellent condition.