Italy defends its title at the European Athletics Team Championships

Individual victories by Larissa Iapichino in the long jump and Leonardo Fabbri in the shot put helped Italy defend its team title at the European Athletics Team Championships First Division in Madrid.

Italy started the fourth and final day with a comfortable but not insurmountable lead, which it managed to maintain throughout all 12 events to finish with a total score of 431.5 points, ahead of Poland (405.5 points), Germany (397 points), the Netherlands (384.5 points) and Great Britain (381 points).

In the closely contested long jump, Larissa Iapichino cleared 6.92m on her fifth attempt to edge out two-time world champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany (6.84m). Portugal’s Agate de Sousa matched Malaika Mihambo’s mark but finished third. Additional points in a competition received seven women, who jumped 6.70m or more.

Leonardo Fabbri’s victory in the shot put was more convincing. The European champion led throughout, starting with 20.88m, then improved to 21.49m in the second round before finishing his run with 21.68m. Sweden’s Wictor Petersson was second with 21.10m.

One of the most surprising and attractive performances of the day was by Spain’s Jael Bestue in the 200m, who delighted the home crowd with a victory in 22.19 sec (0.8 m/s.). This was not only a meeting record, but also broke the long-standing Spanish record of 22.38 sec, set by Sandra Myers in 1990, some 10 years before Jael Bestue was born.

Helene Parisot of France finished second in 22.42 sec, closely followed by Sophia Junk (22.53 sec) and Lieke Klaver (22.59 sec).

In the men’s 200m, Xavi Mo-Ajok of the Netherlands won in 20.01 sec (1.8 m/s), setting a meeting record and a national record. Italian athlete Eseosa Fostine Desalu was second in 20.18 sec.

Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh struggled in the high jump, needing three attempts to clear 1.97m, tying Poland’s Maria Zodzik. The Ukrainian, however, cleared 2.00m on her first attempt to secure victory.

Julian Weber’s first javelin throw of 85.15m remained the best of the day, with the German ultimately winning by almost five metres.

On the track, Niels Laros and Ilona Mononen produced a perfect final sprint. Niels Laros trailed Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo on the final lap of the 5,000m before taking the lead in the final straight and crossing the finish line in 13:44.45 min, winning by almost a second. Ilona Mononen overtook Britain’s Sarah Tait just before the finish to win by 0.03 sec in the 3,000m steeplechase in 9:49.21 min.

A thrilling three-way battle unfolded in the 4x400m medley relay, the final event of the weekend. Italy had a slight lead over Great Britain at the end of the first leg, which Virginia Troiani turned into a comfortable lead in the second leg, thanks to a time of 49.8 sec. Britain’s Toby Harries closed the gap to 43.6 sec in the third leg, but Italy still held a slight lead over Great Britain, with Poland lagging behind. Great Britain’s Emily Newnham led the way in the final straight, but Poland’s Natalia Bukowiecka charged into the final bend and managed to pull ahead, crossing the finish line in a national record of 3:09.43 min. Italy finished second in a national record of 3:09.66 min, with Great Britain posting the same time in third place.