A second place finish is worth more than a victory for Larissa Iapichino, who, at the Diamond League event in Eugene, United States, broke Fiona May's Italian long jump record of 7.11m, jumped in Budapest in August 1998. It took just one centimeter for the almost 24-year-old Florentine to surpass her mother : on her first jump of the competition , Iapichino soared, driven by a favorable wind within the regulation limits (+1.8m), to land at 7.12m , settling a challenge she'd been grappling with since the beginning of her career. Ever since, at a very young age, she was considered the one who could surpass her mother: as far as the distance is concerned, she's now there; as far as the trophy cabinet is concerned, she has a lifetime ahead of her.
The Fiamme Oro athlete then posted three no-shows, a forfeit, and a more modest jump. And it didn't matter if home-grown Tara Davis-Woodhall jumped a centimeter longer than Eugene and won the competition with 7.13: for Iapichino, it will still be a day to remember and celebrate with his family.
The American afternoon doesn't end there for the Italian national team, and especially for Florentine athletics: with a first throw of 22.74, Leonardo Fabbri wins his second Diamond League event of the season in the shot put , also climbing the overall rankings. This measure earns him a world record for the season and a trouble-free race, with Jamaican Rajindra Campbell (22.16) not even remotely troubling him.
(Unioneonline/vl)
