And thank goodness they weren’t in shape. «In the relay races we are further behind than a year ago», had ruled Thomas Ceccon, our multipurpose jewel. And looking at the seasonal times, he was right. But the race is the race and the Azzurri are now fixed in the world elite, when it counts they know what to do.
So the Italian 4x100m style relay team made up of Alessandro Miressi, Manuel Frigo, Lorenzo Zazzeri and Thomas Ceccon (who replaced Deplano who competed this morning in the battery) takes silver behind Australia in 3’10”49: it is Italy’s first medal at the World Championships in Fukuoka and it was gold until the last 15 meters, when Chalmers burns our Ceccon (“But I still did my personal even though in the end I was tired , I could see Chalmers, but it was too strong», explains Thomas). It is the victory of a solid group (which also counts as a pass for the Paris Olympics, everyone’s real goal), already bronze a year ago at the Budapest World Championships and silver at the Tokyo Olympics.
Always there, when it counts. In their words there is only a little space for the lost gold (Frigo: “Sorry to lose for a little while, but we’re happy all the same, we did well, it was a somewhat complicated relay compared to other years”), satisfaction clearly prevails. Zazzeri, for example, who was stopped for three months at the end of last year due to an anaphylactic shock (with hospitalization and so much fear), is delighted: «It’s a silver that is worth gold, I’m sorry about my time trial, if I had been better maybe we would have won. Today we proved our strength to those who didn’t believe it.” Miressi has also regained his spirit, who a year ago felt like the weak link in the relay: «I’m focused on this World Cup, and I’m happy to be back at my level. I believed in it until the end, we were all 4 very good, Zazza is not to blame”.