MUNICH. There is life in Italian athletics beyond Marcell Jacobs and Gianmarco Tamberi. Andrea Dallavalle and Sara Fantini, 46 years old in two, young and hungry faces from Emilia, transform the fourth place collected at the World Championships in Eugene into a splendid medal at the European Championships in Monaco. The Piacenza takes a silver in the men’s triple jump, beaten only by the fresh world champion Pedro Pichardo, unapproachable with his 17.50; the Parmesan instead snatches a bronze with 71.58 in the hammer throw, behind the Romanian Ghelber (72.22) and the Polish Rozanska (71.63).
After the exploits in the US, both showed up in Bavaria with the spotlight on: they did not betray expectations (both however worsened Eugene’s performance) showing they knew how to manage the pressure, even if above all the 24-year-old from Fidenza may have some regrets. in addition, given the monstre launch (73.40) with which she qualified for the final. The 22-year-old from Piacenza ‘quarrels’ with the platform in the first two jumps and is saved from the cut thanks to a first measure of 16.81. The good jump for the podium is the fifth, when the blue exceeds 17 meters (17.04), a measure that earns him a silver behind the unbeatable Pedro Pichardo (17.50), who repeats the world championship triumph in July in Eugene in Monaco. . “I’ve always been used to seeing the athletics of the greats on TV, arriving on the podium is something really fantastic, it’s incredible,” admitted Dallavalle.
Italy thus returns to the European podium exactly ten years after the gold won by Fabrizio Donato in 2012. Tobia Pocchi (16.79), fourth behind the French Jean-Marc Pontvianne. It was not however the race of Emmanuel Ihemeje, ninth with 16.55. A more difficult race for Sara Fantini, who after having printed a well-wishing 71.51 on the first attempt, remedies two nulls and a measurement of less than 70 meters in the three subsequent throws, giving the impression of never finding the set-up and balance on the platform. After another miss at the last attempt she manages to improve (71.58) but not enough to climb the podium. «Certainly today I didn’t give my best, unfortunately it can happen in races, I’m aware of it – she admitted – even if it shouldn’t have happened here. I will analyze the cold test to understand what is gone ». But the future is from her, like Dallavalle. Young Italians on the hunt for victories.