Yesterday in Forlì (ITA), the Italian individual and regional championships of the U16 category (boys and girls) took place.
The two races took place on track on the distance of:
- m. 3.000 for U16 girls starting at 15.24
- m. 5.000 for U16 boys lstarting at 16.40
As usually happens, this walking event is quite crowded as each region has the opportunity to enter both individual and team athletes.
Nevertheless, this year there is a lower number than last year's 2018 season.
3.000m track walk U16 girls
The race ends in the final laps when Giada Traina (ITA) from Tuscany forces the pace and goes on to win for the second consecutive year in 15:01.64
Second place to Sofia Giovannini (ITA) of Piedmont in 15:03.80
Third place to Francesca Vinti (ITA) of Umbria in 15:06.61
Unfortunately we have to see a clear fall in the performance of young athletes.
In 2018 Giada Traina had won the race in 14:45:96 and the first three athletes had all finished the race under 15:00.00
Of the 20 athletes at the start 18 finished the race (of which 1 after a stop of 30" in the Penalty Area), 1 DNF and 1 DQ
5.000m track walk U16 boys
Vitcory to Diego Giampaolo (ITA) from Lazio after a full race leader. His mark: 23:40:59
These are his split times each 1,000m:
- 1.000m: 4:37.4
- 2.000m: 9:14.1 (4:36.6)
- 3.000m: 14:01.2 (4:47.1)
- 4.000m: 18:54.0 (4:52.8)
- last 1.000m in 4: 46.59
Second place to Tommaso Carucci (ITA) of Puglia in 24:09.99
Third place to Francesco Piccarolo (ITA) of Piedmont in 24:17.94
Also in this race there is a fall of performances even more net than that observed in the girls.
Last year the first three had recorded the following marks:
- 1st: Nicola Lomuscio in 22:06.00 (-1:35.59)
- 2nd: Pietro Pio Notaristefano in 22:18.82 (-1:51.12)
- 3rd: Jacopo Farnesi in 23:51:51 (-23:43)
Of the 19 athletes at the start 18 finished the race (of which 2 after a 30" stop in the Penalty Area) and 1 DQ.
(photos by Fidal/Grana for Fidal)