The spring of Italian athletics, Gianmarco Tamberi’s jump over the lockdown

These are the days of the blue jumps, of the Italian athletics which – symbolically – comes out of the hole after months of restrictions, puts its nose out and tries to take a bit of the future. We rejoiced at Larissa Iapichino’s record jump, 6.91 meters in the long, like mom Fiona May. And for that of Gianmarco Tamberi, I jump high, 2 meters and 35, the best world measurement of 2021. Tamberi has improved, right on the platform of his home, Ancona.

Gimbo – after months tormented in search of himself – he has begun the run-up for the indoor European Championships, scheduled in a couple of weeks: he will have to defend the title.

These are important indications – yes – even in an Olympic key. And it is above all the demonstration of the goodness of the work that our athletes have done in the period of the lockdown. Without competitions, without comparisons, without the possibility of competing in the usual areas; da Tamberi alla Iapichino, the blue stars have found within them the strength to set a goal, set a goal, try to move the bar of ambitions higher. And they did it great.

A few days ago in Poland, Tamberi had jumped 2.34. It was the signal of an excellent moment both physically and mentally. The Gimbo who took the stage dates back to four and a half years ago, when in Montecarlo – it was the evening of July 15, 2016 – he obtained the Italian record by jumping to 2 meters and 39 but broke his ankle and sadly had to say goodbye to the dream of participating at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Since then: the daring descents and ascents, recoveries and injury clouds, a state of form always chased.

Now Gimbo is back. With more reasons than before. “This 2.35 represents the end of a period of almost five years, opened on the evening of the injury in Monte Carlo which denied me the Rio Games – said the jumper – I had so much in my body to dispose of, I had to let off steam: in the last few nights I have had nightmares. Talking about it makes me cry, now I just have to think about myself ». Tamberi was in fact ended up in the storm on social media for the sentence five years ago, when he commented on the disqualification for doping of the blue Alex Schwazer saying: “Schwazer ashamed of Italy”. Today, with Schwazer rehabilitated from justice, Tamberi’s sentence had the effect of a boomerang.

These are the days of blue athletics that is reborn and does so with its most anticipated performers. Iapichino, Tamberi. And also Filippo Tortu – Italian record holder on 100 meters with 9 ”99 and seventh fastest man in the world – who is training hard to get ready for the Tokyo 2020 appointment, the edition of the Games in Covid era postponed to next summer.