A chase that has lasted decades, ideally since 1965, when the European Cup, a continental team event conceived by Italian manager extraordinaire Bruno Zauli (and later dedicated to him), got under way. Since then, amid changes in format (today the review is called European Teams, and is a true tournament among all the countries of the old continent) never had Italy managed to win it. Until, precisely, today, when the spell was broken. It happened in Chorzow, not far from Katowice, Poland, with the blue team triumphing at the end of three days of extraordinarily intense confrontations. In the final session of competition, two Italian successes (seven in total in the event) came thanks to Zane Weir in the shot put (with an excellent 21.59) and Gianmarco Tamberi in the high jump (2.29). Second place for Larissa Iapichino in the long jump (6.66, no wind), thirds for Filippo Tortu in the 200m (20.61, v. -1.3 m/s) and Yeman Crippa in the 5000m (13:34.29). And a superlative overall tightness. The final ranking rewards Italy (426.5 points) by a wide margin over Poland (402.5, so a good 24 lengths away). Third place for Germany, fourth for Spain, fifth to Great Britain. Seven individual successes for the Italian team, as already mentioned (in the previous days victories of Nadia Battocletti in the 5000 meters, Sara Fantini in the hammer, Samuele Ceccarelli in the 100, Alessandro Sibilio in the 400hs, Tobia Bocchi in the triple jump), but also first place in the medal table of the European Games, where Italy collected 14 medals (6 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze). An unparalleled haul. “My thoughts are with Bruno Zauli,” commented Federal President Stefano Mei, “who invented this event: today we have paid tribute to a great man and a great president. Our boys deserve the attention of the whole world, not just Europe. This is the result of the daily work of the clubs on the ground: they are the ones who discover and grow these talents, who then become champions. In these two and a half years the results have been extraordinary, the boys never cease to surprise me.”
