Roberta Bruni after clearing Italian indoor Pole Vault record of 4.60m at 2013 Italian indoor championships (© Giancarlo Colombo)
Three Italian indoor records were broken in 90 minutes during a fantastic second day at the 44th edition of the Italian indoor championships at the Banca Marche Palas in Ancona on Sunday (17).
Silvano Chesani broke Alessandro Talotti’s record in the men’s High Jump, clearing 2.33m, Michael Tumi stormed to a highly impressive 6.51 in the men’s 60m and 18-year-old Roberta Bruni broke the women’s Pole Vault record with 4.60m.
Chesani improved the previous record set by Alessandro Talotti in 2005 by one centimetre to win back-to-back Italian Indoor titles after clearing 2.31m at the same venue 12 months ago.
He had a clean sheet at 2.13m and 2.18m then passed 2.21m before clearing 2.24m at the second attempt. He then passed 2.27m before going over 2.29m also on his second attempt. The bar was then raised to 2.33m, which he cleared at the first attempt. He also equals the Italian outdoor record set by Marcello Benvenuti in in 1989. Marco Fassinotti, who is currently training in Birmingham with London 2012 Olympic Games bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz, finished second with 2.27m.
Bruni, the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships Pole Vault bronze medallist who only turns 19 on 8 March, cleared 4.60m on her first attempt, equalling the national outdoor record set by Anna Giordano Bruno in 2009. Bruni then tried three times at the World junior indoor record height of 4.65m, two centimetres higher than Sweden’s Angelica Bengtsson achieved two years ago.
The Italian record augurs well for next summer’s European Athletics Junior Championships in Rieti next summer. Bruni hails from Nazzano, a small village just 60km away from Rieti where she trains every day at the Raul Guidobaldi Stadium, the venue of the continental event.
“I did not think about 4.60. Clearing 4.51m (in Fermo on 2 February) was already a great achievement. After clearing 4.60, I felt empty. I started with pole vault by chance after I competed at the National Student Games when a local athletics coach Andrea Milardi asked me to have a try. Yelena Isinbayeva is my role model but there are other athletes from whom I can learn,” said Bruni.
Tumi trims record again
Michael Tumi, the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships 100m silver medallist and 4x100m gold medallist, stormed to a jaw-dropping 6.51 in the men’s 60m final after already improving the national record to 6.53 set in Magglingen, Switzerland, on 2 February.
Tumi’s time now leads the 2013 European list and the only man in the world faster is Darvis Patton after his 6.50 at the Millrose Games in New York on Saturday.
“Last summer I was injured and I missed the Olympic Games. Watching the Olympics on TV was a blow for me but gave me extra motivation. The training I am doing is now paying off,” said Tumi.
Fabio Cerutti, the 2009 European indoor 60m silver medallist, finished as the distant runner up with 6.68.
Reigning European indoor champion Simona La Mantia clinched the women’s Triple Jump with a leap of 14.06m on her first attempt while Ottavia Cestonaro set a new Italian junior record with 13.47m.
In the absence of injured Fabrizio Donato and Daniele Greco, third and fourth at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Michele Boni leapt to a winning distance of 16.56m in the men’s Triple Jump.
Elisa Cusma took the 800m in a seasonal best of 2:04:01 while Giordano Benedetti, who has already qualified for European Athletics Indoor Championships in Gothenburg next month after running 1:47.60 in Vienna recently, easily won the title over four laps of the track in 1:48.11.
Margherita Magnani took the women’s 1500m title in 4:14.55 holding off her training partner Giulia Viola, the latter improving her lifetime best to 4:15.77. Marco Salami won a tactical men’s 1500 m final in 3:49.96 over Moh Sheik Abdikadar, a young Italian of Somali origin, who took second place in 3:50.11.
Silvia Weissteiner took the women’s 3000m title in 9:03.29. The 400m titles went to Chiara Bazzoni in the women’s race with 53.78 while Isalbet Juarez took the men’s race in 47.11.
Teenager Trost loves family life
Alessia Trost, who emerged in 2009 when she won the IAAF World Youth Championships on home soil in Bressanone sealed her first senior national title by having a flawless competition and going over 1.95m with her first attempt before two unsuccessful tries at a personal best and world-leading 2.01m on Saturday.
The Italian rising star, who celebrates the same birthday as Bruni but will turn 20 on 8 March, continued to enjoy her perfect winter with five wins out of five competitions so far.
“I changed my mental approach (over the winter). Two metres is no longer a barrier for me. I am more familiar with heights in the region of 1.95. Now, everything has become much easier. I enjoyed competing at the Italian championships in such a nice atmosphere. Last year, I finished fourth at these indoor Championships. A lot of things have changed since then and athletics is at the centre of my life,” reflected Trost.
Asked what the experience was like of competing in her first international meetings as a senior, Trost said: “I enjoy competing in the Moravia Tour where there were a lot of children and families. It’s so different from competing in Italy where there are only athletics enthusiasts who come to watch us. I had also the chance to meet Dick Fosbury, who was invited as a guest during the Moravia Tour. He’s a ‘Living God of athletics.”
Trost has inevitably been compared to Sara Simeoni and Antonietta Di Martino, the only two other Italian women over 2.00m, following her results this winter but she insists she has remained a simple girl who enjoys living her everyday life as a teenager.
“I don’t feel pressure when I am compared to Simeoni and Di Martino. I am honoured to be named in the same breath as these athletes. I don’t know Antonietta very well but I have a great admiration for her. I am grateful to the world of athletics and I feel that I have to learn a lot from this sport. I spend a very normal life. I enjoy listening to music, reading and I study English and German at the University of Udine. This winter’s results have made me more well-known.”
Hurdler Veronica Borsi provided the other highlight of the first day of the championships on Saturday and clocked 8.00 in the women’s 60m Hurdles final to improve her lifetime best by 0.06 following from her recent 8.06 in the French town of Mondeville. She is now just 0.03 off Carla Tuzzi’s national record of 7.97 set in 1994.
“I had a very serious injury in October 2005, during a long jump competition. It took a long time to fully recover from it. I am now fifth in Europe this year but the main thing (in Gothenburg) is to get through the rounds. Everything can happen, the final is my dream”, said Borsi.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
