Larissa Iapichino Follows in Jannik Sinner’s Footsteps

For Larissa Iapichino, the perfect season found its ideal setting in Budapest, where the Italian athlete won the Ultimate Championship in the long jump with an opening jump of 6.90 (with a 0.6 km/h tailwind), which was enough to secure her victory. An immediate victory on her very first jump, just like at the European Championships in Birmingham: a trademark move, a mark in the sand that speaks to the maturity and consistency of a young woman who has long since shed the label of “following in her father’s footsteps.”

Larissa’s 2026, relatively speaking, the career path of another Italian sports champion, tennis player Jannik Sinner, who won the ATP Finals (the season-ending tournament for the top players) in two consecutive editions, in 2024 and 2025. The Florentine high jumper, too, is crafting a similar narrative in her own world, winning where the best compete and rising to the occasion when the pressure is at its highest.

Iapichino’s year has been a crescendo: first, the silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in Torun; then the Italian record, set at 7.12 (one centimeter more than the record set by her mother, Fiona May, in 1998), at the Diamond League meet in Eugene; then the European title in Birmingham; and finally, triumph at World Athletics’ new biennial event, held at the Nemzeti Atletikai Kozpont, which previously hosted the 2023 World Championships.

The progressive elimination format knocked out Monae’ Nichols—the athlete who had denied Larissa her third consecutive Diamond Trophy in Brussels—but it did not dent the Italian’s lead; she remained in control throughout. After an opening jump of 6.90, she recorded a 6.76 (with a 2.1 km/h tailwind) and two fouls, the last one just over the line but still close to seven meters. Joining her on the podium were Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers (6.78) and the American Alyssa Jones (6.77), while France’s Hilary Kpatcha finished in fourth place.

“It’s a wonderful feeling; it means so much,” Iapichino explained to FIDAL’s official channels, “in a season that has given me so much and on a somewhat special day in honor of those who are no longer with us—those who left us today or even in the past.” She was referring to Renata, the woman who raised her as a child and who passed away at the age of 99—a tribute that explains the Italian athlete’s emotional reaction after her victory.

Then a look back at her journey: “After last year, I promised myself I never wanted to feel what I felt in Tokyo again—being eliminated in the World Championships qualifying round. You never stop improving, and for next year I’ll start over with even greater determination. I’ve found the maturity I was looking for, together with my dad Gianni, who coaches me, and by trying out new strategies as well. It’s nice to look back and see the improvement.”