World Athletics Championships, first Italian joy: Antonella Palmisano silver in 35km march
Tokyo still brings good luck to Antonella Palmisano: the Italian marcher, who won gold in the 20 km of the 2021 Summer Olympics, in fact won the silver medal again in the Japanese capital, in one of the races that actually opened the 2025 World Athletics Championships, the 35 km march. It is the third rainbow medal for the athlete from Mottola, the first overall in the 35 km.
The gold went to Spain’s Maria Perez, former defending champion as well as world record holder, who completed the long course in 2h39’01” with a warning from the judges. Palmisano, who instead finished the race without any “warning”, crossed the finish line with a time of 2h42’24”, ahead by 20″ of Colombia’s Paula Milena Torres, who set a new national record with 2h42’44”.
As for the other Italians, finishing just outside the Top 10 was Nicole Colombi, 11th with a time of 2h51’04” while Eleonora Giorgi, penalized for losing contact between her foot and the road three times, finished at position number 17 with a final time of 2h58’50”. Thirty-eight athletes made it to the finish line out of the 47 participants: seven withdrawals, one disqualification, and one withdrawal before the start, that of Mexican Alegna Gonzalez.
Antonella Palmisano had already won two medals at the World Championships, both bronze and both in a 20 km: the first in 2017 in London, the second in 2023 in Budapest. The Mottola-born champion, part of the Fiamme Gialle Sports Group, also boasts an Olympic gold medal (Tokyo 2020, an event held in 2021), and one at the European Championships (Rome 2024), among other titles.
