Clarissa Claretti wins the Italian Hammer Throw title (© Lorenzo Sampaolo)
Field events highlighted the Italian National Championships held in Turin. The best results were Clarissa Claretti’s 71.49m in the women’s Hammer Throw and Fabrizio Donato’s 17.24m in the men’s Triple Jump.
Clarissa Claretti notched up the women’s Hammer Throw title with a good 71.49m in her sixth attempt beating multiple national record holder Ester Balassini, who finished second with 65.93m. Claretti confirmed her recent progress in a season which saw the athlete from central Italian town Fermo improving her personal best to 71.91m set at the Italian Winter Championships in Ascoli Piceno.
Claretti, who is also a referee in Italian youth football matches in her spare time, produced a consistent series which featured a second best throw over the 70 metres barrier (70.71m) plus a 69.39m.
“Ester is a very good friend. I am sorry that she did not perform well but I am happy for my title. I don’t know what I can achieve this year as the Hammer Throw is a very competitive event,” she said. “The most important thing is to peak at the right time and in the right place. This year I am competing a lot abroad in my build-up to Gothenburg,” said last year’s World championships ninth placer.
Donato over 17 metres
Fabrizio Donato leapt to 17.22m which he increased to 17.24m (eighth best performance this year in Europe) in the fourth attempt. Donato, winner at the 2006 European Cup in Malaga and Italian record holder with 17.60m, showed his consistency in a new stage of his career which has followed his marriage with former 400 metres Italian record holder Patrizia Spuri and the birth of his daughter Greta.
A good performance came from second placer Fabrizio Schembri who leapt to a PB of 16.77m (eighth on the Italian all-time list).
“I feel good this season. I am jumping constantly over 17 metres. This is my goal this season. I credit my recent good results to my wife Patrizia who is very supportive. On Tuesday I will compete in Lausanne,” said Donato.
Family battle in the High Jump
High jumper Giulio Ciotti, seventh at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow, won the family tussle with his twin brother Nicola clearing 2.25m with his first attempt after a very long competition interrupted by a heavy downpour.
Nicola finished second on count-back. Both Giulio and Nicola tried three attempts at 2.29m. Giulio, who finished second in the recent European Cup in Malaga with 2.29m, is the Italian season leader with 2.31m cleared in a German high jump meeting in Viersen last week.
The two outgoing twins from the famous seaside resort Riccione, who love spending their spare time playing beach volley, are ready to attack Marcello Benvenuti’s Italian record of 2.33m in better weather conditions.
Just a test for Brugnetti
Reigning 20km walking Olympic champion Ivano Brugnetti won the 10km event in 39:48.58 without a real opposition in what his coach Antonio La Torre called a training test in the mid of his preparation at altitude at Sestrieres.
“I competed in Turin to honour the Italian Championships and do a test in my build-up to Gothenburg. There I want to defend my title as Olympic champion. I wanted to retire from the sport this winter but I am now confident. I will make a new competitive test in Sesto San Giovanni on 24 July,” concluded Brugnetti.
Local favourite Zahra Bani, a World Championships fifth placer in Helsinki, speared to a winning 60.38m in the women’s javelin which confirms her consistency beyond the 60 metres barrier.
“My training has been slowed by a minor right foot injury. I am feeling joy for my second consecutive Italian title. This year was very special because I competed in front of my friends. I want to dedicate this win to my first coach Carlo Lievore who died in 2002. I have two competitions before Gothenburg. One is on Tuesday in Lausanne and the other will be Stockholm or Helsinki,” said the Mogadiscio-born Zahra Bani.
Antonietta Di Martino, fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow with 1.96m, cleared 1.91m in her first attempt to win the women’s High Jump in her final test before the star-studded Golden Gala High Jump competition next Friday in Rome.
And the others...
Simona La Mantia, European under 23 champion last year in Erfurt, clinched her third consecutive Italian Triple Jump title with 14.21m, a confidence-boosting result after a difficult start to her season. The young athlete from Palermo chose to delay her season to peak in time for Gothenburg.
La Mantia’s close friend Chiara Rosa, European under 23 bronze medallist in the women’s Shot Put, confirmed last year’s title with a solid 18.24m release. Runner-up was former European indoor silver medallist Assunta Legnante (17.99m) who is coming back to form following a foot surgery last autumn.
Andrea Barberi, 400 metres World Championships semi-finalist, defeated one-lap emerging star Claudio Licciardello in 46.04 in a race which followed a heavy downpour which affected the Primo Nebiolo Stadium during day two.
Twenty-year-old Licciardello from Sicily is one the most promising athletes emerging from the new generation of Italian athletics. He grabbed the spotlight last month with a very good 45.59 set at the Geneva meeting in Switzerland on 11 June.
Former Olympic silver medallist Nicola Vizzoni won a close Hammer Throw battle with fast improving Marco Lingua with 76.11m to 76.03m.
On a track which is not very fast Luca Verdecchia clinched the men’s 100 metres title in 10.42 while the men’s 400 metres Hurdles went to World Championships semi-finalist Gianni Carabelli in 49.79. Stefano Anceschi won the men’s 200m in 20.90.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
