European Athletics Championships: Italian double in shot put, gold for Fabbri and silver for Weir

Golden debut for the blues on a mission in Birmingham. Italy achieves its first victory at the European Athletics Championships thanks to Leo Fabbri, who after Rome 2024 confirms himself as the continental champion in shot put, dominating a one-sided final with a throw of 22.31, leaving no hope for the opponents. "I wanted to set the record for the event, but I had a blast. I'm very happy, it was great to do this double. We proved we are the strongest in Europe." Next to him, on the second step of the podium, is Zane Weir, who throws the shot to 21.12, and together with Leo, they achieve a double that celebrates Italy's debut on English soil. Disappointment, however, for the Italian sprinter Zaynab Dosso, who finishes seventh in the women's 100m final. "Today I give myself a two, no excuses. I was ready and leaving the stadium seeing the medal times burns a little, because it was a race within my reach," admitted Dosso, strict with herself. Adding a bittersweet note to a sprint start was Mattia Furlani's broken jump. The competition and season are already over for the reigning world champion in long jump, who lands on the English sand with a grimace of pain on his first flight and immediately realizes he has injured himself. That right hamstring, already injured in China in May, may have caused a new strain, if not a tear. Furlani recognizes the disaster and signals to his staff that he cannot continue. He leaves the stadium in a wheelchair. "My season ends here," writes the 2005-born athlete in a long Instagram post, with a blunt tone. "It's been two and a half months since that injury in China. Two months in which the goal was to recover as best as possible to try to return to the track healthy," confesses the Italian. "If I hadn't been absolutely sure, I would never have risked a probable relapse. Today I felt good, I was going strong but, obviously, my body wasn't yet ready for such speeds. My season ends here," leaving no room for further interpretation. Now, the Italian long jumpers will be carried by Francesco Inzoli, who, taking full advantage of the favorable wind, reaches the continental final with the best measure of 8.34. "I wanted to do well and make it to the final. The wind was a bit inconsistent, I had to recalibrate my run and I succeeded," commented the 21-year-old from Milan. Hoping to add to Italy's medal tally is Olympic high jump champion Gianmarco Tamberi, despite the difficult period that began at the end of 2024. The Italian presents himself with "an embarrassing measure," but confident in "a very good physical condition" and certain that he "won't carry the fear of jumping to defend my title: it will be difficult, but I’m not afraid to say it," admits Gimbo. In Birmingham, Italy enters the competition with a black ribbon as a sign of mourning to remember Angelo Livio Berruti, gold medalist in Rome in 1960. After the tribute from Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs, there was also a tribute from Filippo Tortu, in a reassembly of the 4x100 relay team victorious at the Tokyo 2020 Games. "You shouldn't meet your idols, the risk is too high," Tortu writes on his Instagram profile. "But if your idol is Livio Berruti, this belief will be swept away with the same speed with which pigeons take flight. I bid farewell with the promise to carry on your love for curves, on track and beyond, living them both in an Aristotelian way and not Platonic," concludes Pippo. Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA