European team championships, Italy in the lead after the third day
Italy is leading the standings after the third and penultimate day of the European Team Championships in Madrid, a Saturday that saw the Azzurri gain many important points and recover two positions from yesterday.
Italy’s points are 290, ahead of Germany with 266 and a handful of nations grouped within a handful of lengths: Poland (256.5), the Netherlands (253.5), Great Britain (252) and Spain (249).
The Italian team climbed back to the top thanks to a long series of important placings, culminated in the last event of the day by the third place in the women’s triple jump of 19-year-old Erika Saraceni, who achieved her personal best of 14.07, falling behind only Germany’s Joyeux (14.42) and Sweden’s Askag (14.18).
In the long jump, Mattia Furlani collected many nulls and eventually stopped on the third step of the podium, preceded by Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou, Olympic champion in Paris and Tokyo, who jumped 8.46, and Sweden’s Thobias Montler, who with 8.08 did better by an inch than the Italian.
Outstanding performance by 20-year-old Matteo Sioli in the high jump, who took second place with a new personal best in the open (2.27, 2.29 the one in the hall), beaten only by Czech Stefela, the only one to exceed 2.30. Valuable points also brought with another second place Ayomide Folorunso in the 400 hurdles (54.88).
Portuguese Diallo mocked the Azzurri in the final 40 meters (54.77), while in the men’s race Alessandro Sibilio, not in perfect condition on the eve of the race, stopped off the podium. Also among the hurdles, in the 100 Giada Carmassi confirmed her excellent moment by taking fourth place with a time (12.62) that would have been an Italian record had the wind not been over the allowed limits.
In contrast, Lorenzo Simonelli took second place in the 110, with 13.27, beaten by a whisker by Switzerland’s Jason Joseph (13.24). Also on the podium was Eloisa Coiro in the 800 event, and thanks to her points Italy moved to the top of the standings for the first time. The Roman was good at following the train of the best, with the victory going to France’s Bourgoin (1:58.60) while Coiro finished in 1:59.88.
The 4×100 women’s and men’s relays took two important fourth places. Among the leaders, Vittoria Fontana, Gloria Hooper, Dalia Kaddari and Zaynab Dosso finished in 42.58. The Netherlands won, repeating the success of the men’s race, where the blue quartet (Filippo Randazzo, Filippo Tortu, Fausto Desalu and Lorenzo Simonelli, who was called to the last after the 110 hs), rewritten on the eve of the race because of the sequence of injuries suffered by the sprint group, finished at the foot of the podium.
A bit of regret for Sara Fantini in the hammer throw, who stopped at the foot of the podium with a measurement of 70.56, while Enrico Saccomano finished 12th in the discus throw.
