Fantastic Sunday for Italy at the European Road Running Championships. After the triumph of Nadia Battocletti in the 10 km women, Italian gold also in the marathon in Leuven, Belgium, with the victory of Iliass Aouani after a magnificent sprint.
It is the great day of the Milanese engineer, author of a race as protagonist, always in the leading positions before the decisive action to close in 2h09:05 beating three Israelis: Gashau Ayale (2h09:08), overcome in the final duel, then the world vice-champion Maru Teferi, bronze in 2h09:17, and Haimro Alame, fourth with 2h09:27.
Second Italian ever with 2h06:06 last December in Valencia and already national record holder (2h07:16 in 2023 in Barcelona), the 29-year-old trained in Ferrara by Massimo Magnani achieves the most important result of his career. In the men's marathon for Italy Aouani is the sixth European gold in history, after those of Gelindo Bordin (1986 and 1990), Stefano Baldini (1998 and 2006) and Daniele Meucci (2014).
For the first time the title is awarded in a dedicated event that becomes very rich in Italian medals: 6 in total with three golds (also Nadia Battocletti and the women's team in the 10 km), one silver and two bronzes (in the half marathon on Saturday).
(Online Union)
