Iliass Aouani, bronze worth gold in the Tokyo World Championship marathon

Another medal, the fourth, for Italy at the World Championships in Tokyo. In the marathon, Iliass Aouani takes a wonderful bronze at the end of a tactical race, run in exemplary fashion by the Italian with a time of 2h09:53. It is the crowning achievement of a fantastic season for the Milanese, the reigning European champion who triumphed in April in the first edition of the European Road Running Championships in Leuven, Belgium, and now also manages to get on the rainbow podium. Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu won in a photofinish with a breathtaking sprint, in a comeback over Germany’s Amanal Petros who was in the lead at the entrance to the stadium (2h09:48 the chrono for both) in a trio also composed of the Italian. Also among the best was Italian record holder Yohanes Chiappinelli, sixth in 2h10:15, while Yeman Crippa stopped at the 32nd kilometer. In the history of the World Championships, it is the fifth Italian medal in the men’s marathon after a silver (Vincenzo Modica 1999) and three other bronze medals (Gelindo Bordin 1987, Stefano Baldini 2001 and 2003). Qualifying for the pole vault final was Roberta Bruni, who scored 4.60 in the first event after 4.45 achieved in the second, recovered less than three months after a fractured sacrum while Elisa Molinarolo with 4.45 was eliminated. Promoted to the semifinals are the three blue women in the 400 hurdles: Alice Muraro wins her battery with a personal best of 54.36 and improves by more than two tenths to become the second Italian ever, setting the eighth fastest time overall, Ayomide Folorunso (54.67) and Rebecca Sartori (55.11). In the hammer out Giorgio Olivieri (71.41).

He runs with great lucidity Aouani to handle the pitfalls of the humid weather in the Japanese morning, as well as his opponents: at the beginning he remains in control in the large group, which counts as many as 15 athletes at the 35th km and gradually thins out, after a 1h05:19 passage at the half. Then the 29-year-old from the Fiamme Azzurre, black bandana under his white cap, begins to appear in the top positions when Ugandan Abel Chelangat commands, at two and a half kilometers in the uphill section he loses ground Chiappinelli who recovers on the downhill before breaking away again while Aouani maintains contact and transits in front at 40th in 2h03:33. Five athletes play for the title in the last kilometer in a throbbing finale: Simbu dictates the pace, Chelangat gives way (fifth in 2h10:11) as does Israel’s Haimro Alame (fourth with 2h10:03), a trio remains for the medals with Petros seemingly launched toward gold before being mocked right at the finish line. Celebrating bronze is Aouani, an engineering graduate from the United States, a former Italian record-holder with 2h07:16 in Barcelona in 2023 before going back to better himself in December last year with 2h06:06 in Valencia, the second Italian ever.

“It’s one of those moments you dream about all your life – Iliass Aouani tells with emotion – and I was crazy to dream big. A medal that makes me proud but does not satisfy my hunger. I am grateful for those who believed in me, happy to raise the tricolor and to have made so many people happy: my family, coach Massimo Magnani and all the staff that follows me. At the fifteenth kilometer voices surfaced from my dark side that wants me to give up, however, I quickly silenced them. Around halfway through the race, at a sponging, I lost one of my two contact lenses but I told myself that one would be enough. I entered the stadium and it was beautiful, I was aiming for gold, but the others were better than me. Last year I experienced the disappointment of not being called for the Olympics, the last two months have been very complicated also because of some injuries. This bronze came from nowhere, from the housing projects in Ponte Lambro, and I hope my story is an inspiration to everyone: when you believe enough, dreams can come true. My father is about to go to work on the construction site, and he will be proud of me. There is everything in this medal: moments of disappointment when I wanted to give up, tears shed in the car alone, but I made it.