Great Italy at the European Championships: A Golden Jump for Iapichino, an Incredible Triumph for the Italian 4×400 Relay Team!

A thrilling finale for Italy at the European Championships in Birmingham: with a true last-minute surge, the Azzurri topped the medal count by defeating Great Britain in the final event, the men’s 4×400 relay.

Earlier, Larissa Iapichino had kicked off the evening to thunderous applause: the Italian athlete won the gold medal in the women’s long jump final. Following in her father’s footsteps, she won a closely contested competition thanks to a jump of 7.00, achieved on her very first attempt in the final. Iapichino, who became European champion for the first time in her career, finished ahead of Britain’s Jasmin Sawyers, who took silver with a jump of 6.99, and France’s Hilary Kpatcha, who claimed bronze with 6.98. Larissa is also the first Italian woman in history to win the outdoor European title in the women’s long jump: her mother, Fiona May, had previously won only the silver medal.

Italy’s magical evening didn’t end there—quite the contrary: the quartet of Scotti, Sito, Soudassi, and Benati clinched an incredible gold medal in the men’s 4×400 final. The Italian team outspurted Great Britain in the final stretch, definitively overtaking them in the medal count as well. With a time of 2:59.16, Italy pulled off the feat of the evening, finishing ahead of the British (silver) and the Netherlands (bronze).

Shortly before that, the women’s team had also made their mark: Bonora, Molinari, Mangione, and Coiro took bronze in the women’s 4×400, finishing behind only the Netherlands and Great Britain. Italy thus finished the European Championships at the top of the standings, with 10 gold medals, 6 silver, and 6 bronze for a total of 22 medals: a memorable edition for our athletics community.