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Report20 Jul 2008


Cerutti, Claretti produce the highlights in Cagliari – Italian Championships report

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10.13 PB for Fabio Cerutti in Cagliari (© Giancarlo Colombo)

Cagliari, ItalyClarissa Claretti’s 72.46m effort in the women’s Hammer Throw and a surprising 10.13 by Fabio Cerutti in the men’s 100m heats were the top results of the Italian Championships which concluded on Sunday in Cagliari in Sardinia.

Solid improvement for Cerutti

Cerutti made the headlines in the men’s 100 metres heats where he cruised to an impressive 10.13 with a slight -0.1 m/s headwind, a result which ranks him third in the Italian all-time lists behind sprint legend Pietro Mennea (10.01) and Carlo Boccarini (10.08) but ahead of Simone Collio (10.14) and Stefano Tilli (10.16). Cerutti, who set the qualifying A standard for Bejing thanks to his result, won the 100m final in 10.21 beating Jaques Riparelli, second in 10.29 and 2004 World indoor finalist Collio (10.31).

Cerutti, a 22-year-old University student of Medicine from Borgaretto near Turin, emerged during the 2007 indoor season when he finished sixth in the European Indoor Championships final in the 60m in Birmingham clocking a 6.62 PB. He began with the Long Jump and competed many times against his close friend Andrew Howe during his youth and junior career. After some injury problems Cerutti turned successfully to the sprints. He set his previous PB of 10.25 in the Lugano International meeting on 4 July.

“I was convinced that I could run this time because I trained very well. It was just a matter of time to find the right race to set my PB,” said Cerutti.  

Claretti building consistency 

Claretti, World and European finalist in the women’s Hammer Throw, produced a superb competition with four throws over the 70m barrier. Claretti, who is a football referee in youth matches during her spare time, improved the Italian best performance in 2008 three times throwing the implement to 70.72m, 71.88m and finally to a new PB of 72.46m in the sixth round. Claretti beat Italian seasonal revelation Silvia Salis, who finished second with 69.63m. Salis secured her berth in the Italian Olympic team with a new PB of 70.42m earlier this season.

“I suffered from back problems this winter. My goal this weekend was to throw over 71 metres. I am bearing fruits from the hard work,” said Claretti.

The good level reached by italian hammer throwers this year is shown by the excellent results produced by Marco Lingua and former Olympic silver medallist Nicola Vizzoni who have both booked their berths for Bejing. Lingua, the Italian seasonal leader with 79.97m set in Bydsgosz on 1 July, clinched the Italian title with a best throw of 78.13m in the third round. Vizzoni, who qualified for Bejing with a seasonal best of 78.79m, finished second with 76.53m.  

DiMartino content, Brugnetti showing good pre-Olympic form

World silver medallist Antonietta Di Martino cleared 1.93m to win the women’s High Jump in her second competition in just two days after her 1.94m at the Paris Golden League meeting in the French capital on Friday. Di Martino failed three attempts at 1.96m.

“I had a good feeling after travelling the whole day from Paris yesterday. The run-up was good. I needed to start at 1.77m using the lower heights to warm up. Before Bejing I will continue to work on my technique,” Di Martino said.

Reigning 20 km Race Walk Olympic champion Ivano Brugnetti showed that he is ready to defend his title in Bejing on 16 August. Brugnetti won the 10 Km race in a good 39:12.33 on a hot day with  the temperature over 30°C. “I worked very hard and I feel in good shape. I will continue training at home until leaving to Bejing,” said Brugnetti. 

Elsewhere...

Vincenza Calì, a former 200m World junior fourth placer in Kingston 2002, grabbed the headlines of the final day winning the 200m in 23.10, the fifth fastest time in history in Italy. Calì, who qualified for Bejing last week at the Rome Golden League meeting running 23.20, is  coming back to her best form this year after a career ravaged by many injuries. The 25-year-old girl from Palermo will also lead a young 4x100m Relay team in Bejing. Italy set a surprising Italian record of 43.04 in Annecy at the end of June.

“I did not expect this result because I found it difficult to recover from the effort of the Golden Gala. My goal is to dip under the 23 seconds barrier. The relay can reach the final. We are a very good team,” said Calì. Second was fresh 400m Italian record holder Libania Grenot in 23.45. The former Cuban, who competed for her native country at the World Championships in Helsinki 2005, will be eligible to compete for Italy in Bejing in her favourite 400m race where she ran a 51.05 national record in Florence at the end of June. 

World indoor finalist Elisa Cusma, one of the best hopes for a possible Olympic final in Bejing, won unchallenged the women’s 800m in 2:03.59. Another middle-distance hope in the Chinese capital will be Elena Romagnolo, who broke the women’s 3000m Steeplechase Italian record running 9:31.29 in the Athens IAAF World Athletics Tour meeting last week. Romagnolo opted to run the 5000m in Cagliari where she finished first in 15:55.79.

Micol Cattaneo, who ran the second fastest time in history in Italy in the women’s 100m Hurdles with 12.98, missing the national record by just one hundredth of a second at the European Cup in Annecy, notched up the national title in 13.18.

The men’s High Jump title went to 2.30m specialist and Olympic qualifier Filippo Campioli over Nicola Ciotti. After both jumpers cleared 2.25m, a jump-off was needed to decide the winner. After a long battle Campioli managed to clear 2.21m taking the Italian title. Campioli will form the Italian jump trio for the Olympic Games together with Alessandro Talotti and Andrea Bettinelli (three times over 2.30m in 2008).  

Italian record holder Chiara Rosa beat European indoor champion Assunta Legnante thanks to a best release to 17.96m in the sixth round. Legnante did not throw further than 17.53m.

An incredible result happened in the men’s 400m where Andrea Barberi and Luca Galletti tied in 46.93 after an neck-and-neck race in the final straight.

After the national championships the Italian Olympic Commitee CONI will announce the Italian team for the Olympic Games in Bejing. The Italian team will be made up of 44 athletes.

“I hope that our team will be as competive as in the World Championships in Osaka,” said Italian Athletics Federation President Franco Arese.

Medal hopes will be carried by World silver medallists Andrew Howe (Long Jump) and Di Martino, double World bronze medallist Alex Schwazer (50 km walking race) and reigning Olympic champion Brugnetti (20 km walking race).

Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

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