Long jump winner Larissa Iapichino at the European Team Championships (© Getty Images)
Individual wins from long jumper Larissa Iapichino and shot putter Leonardo Fabbri helped Italy to successfully defend its crown in the overall standings at the European Team Championships in Madrid on Sunday (29).
Italy went into the fourth and final day with a comfortable yet not unassailable lead, but they maintained it throughout the day’s 12 disciplines to finish with a winning score of 431.5 points, ahead of Poland (405.5), Germany (397), Netherlands (384.5) and Great Britain (381).
In a highly competitive long jump contest, Iapichino produced a fifth-round effort to 6.92m to leapfrog to the top of the leaderboard, overtaking early leader Malaika Mihambo, the two-time world champion from Germany (6.84m).
Portugal’s Agate de Sousa produced the same mark as Mihambo but finished third on countback in a competition where seven women jumped 6.70m or farther.
Fabbri’s victory in the men’s shot put was more clear-cut. The European champion led throughout, opening with 20.88m, then improving to 21.49m in round two before rounding out his series with 21.68m. Sweden’s Wictor Petersson was second (21.10m).
One of the most surprising and popular performances of the day came from Spain’s Jael Bestue in the women’s 200m, who delighted the home crowd with a 22.19 (0.8m/s) victory.
Not only was it a championship record, she also smashed the long-standing Spanish record of 22.38 set by Sandra Myers back in 1990, some 10 years before Bestue was born.
France’s Helene Parisot was second in 22.42, closely followed by Sophia Junk (22.53) and Lieke Klaver (22.59).
The men’s 200m similarly broke new ground as Xavi Mo-Ajok of the Netherlands won in 20.01 (1.8m/s), setting a championship and national record. Italy’s Eseosa Fostine Desalu was a stride behind in second place (20.18).
Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh was under some pressure in the high jump as it took her three attempts to get over 1.97m, putting her level with Poland’s Maria Zodzik. But the Ukrainian then went clear on her first attempt at 2.00m to secure victory.
Julian Weber’s opening throw of 85.15m in the men’s javelin remained the best mark of the day as the German eventually won by almost five metres.
Elsewhere on the track, Niels Laros and Ilona Mononen timed their finishes to perfection. Laros tracked Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo on the final lap of the men’s 5000m before sweeping into the lead on the home straight and crossing the line in 13:44.45 to win by almost a second.
Mononen left it much later in the women’s steeplechase and caught Britain’s Sarah Tait just before the line to win by 0.03 in 9:49.21.
There was a thrilling three-way battle in the mixed 4x400m, the final discipline of the weekend. Italy held a slight lead over Great Britain at the end of the first leg, which Virginia Troiani turned into a comfortable lead on leg two, thanks to a 49.8 split.
Britain’s Toby Harries closed the gap with a third-leg split of 43.6, but Italy still held a slight advantage going into the final lap just ahead of Britain with Poland further behind. Britain’s Emily Newnham moved into the lead on the backstraight, but Poland’s Natalia Bukowiecka came charging around the final bend to contest for the lead, eventually managing to forge ahead and cross the line in a national record of 3:09.43.
Italy finished second in a national record of 3:09.66 and Great Britain & NI were given the same time in third place.
