There was a huge shock at the Italian Indoor Championships in Ancona on Sunday (19) when Olympic and European 100m gold medallist and world indoor champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs was beaten in the 60m final.
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He was pipped by 0.01 by a little-known law student Samuele Ceccarelli, 23, who took the title with a lifetime best of 6.54.
"There are no words to describe this emotion, winning the first Italian title in the final against the Olympic champion is something that cannot be described. I didn't expect that, really.
“We knew that the physical form was good, as demonstrated in the races before the Italian Championships. But the idea of competing with and beating a champion of this calibre is like no other. A result built with patience and sacrifice; athletics gives no one gifts. I'm a simple guy,” Ceccarelli told FIDAL.
Ceccarelli’s pre-2023 lifetime best in the 60m stood at 6.72 from 2019. His 100m PB is 10.45 which dates back to 2021 - a mark which will surely be revised this summer.
Jacobs was gracious in defeat, warmly congratulating the surprise winner. "I just have to congratulate Samuele Ceccarelli. He had an excellent race, he deserved it. I told him to look forward to Istanbul: it will be fun. In that form he will make the final. Obviously it burns because it's the first Italian title I've lost after I don't know how many years, but I'll never stop putting myself on the line. There are still many technical things to fix," he said.
There was also a high-quality men’s shot put that pitched Olympic fifth-placer Zane Weir against European finalists Leonardo Fabbri and Nick Ponzio. It was Fabbri who emerged victorious with a personal best of 21.60m. Weir’s best was 21.46 and Ponzio could only manage 20.60m on this occasion.
The previous day saw world bronze medallist Elena Vallortigara win the high jump with 1.90m, European finalist Roberta Bruni clear a national indoor record of 4.62m in the pole vault and European finalist Larissa Iapichino win the long jump with 6.53m.
Stefano Sottile also won a competitive high jump final with 2.26m ahead of Marco Fassinotti and Edoardo Stronati, both of whom cleared 2.24m to finish second and third respectively on countback. For Stronati, his mark broke the Italian U20 record which was set in 1980.
Kaczmarek clocks 50.83 at the Polish Indoor Championships
On the second day of the Polish Indoor Championships in Torun on Sunday (19), European silver medallist Natalia Kaczmarek won the 400m in another national record.
She improved her own record she set in Lievin four days earlier by 0.07, clocking 50.83 to win from Anna Kielbasinska and Justyna Swiety-Ersetic who finished in 51.33 and 51.91 respectively in a high class race.
Olympic 1500m finalist Michal Rozmys won the men’s 3000m in 7:54.93 and 20-year-old Jakub Szymanski was an impressive winner of the 60m hurdles in 7.53.
Mateusz Borkowski also had the beating of European indoor champion Patryk Dobek in the 800m, 1:48.51 to 1:49.70.
European bronze medallist Pal Haugen Lillefosse produced the performance of the day at Norwegian Indoor Championships in Baerum. The 21-year-old cleared 5.80m to win the pole vault.
In neighbouring Sweden, the Swedish Indoor Championships took place in Malmo on 17-19 February and saw solid showings from several proven performers.
On Saturday (18), world indoor finalist Andreas Kramer won the 800m in 1:46.75. A day later saw world indoor bronze medallist Carl Bengtstrom looking sharp in winning the 400m in 46.26 while European indoor silver medallist Thobias Montler had a routine victory in the long jump with 7.87m.
European shot put lead for Bertemes; Greek pole vault record for Karalis
Luxembourg has never won a medal in the history of the European Indoor Championships but this could change in Istanbul next month.
Bob Bertemes moved to the top of the 2023 European list in the shot put with a national indoor record of 21.93 at the Luxembourg Indoor Championships on Sunday (19).
At the Greek Indoor Championships, former U20 standout Emmanouil Karalis cleared a national record of 5.86m in the pole vault while his teammate and good friend Miltiadis Tentoglou - who is targeting his third successive title in the long jump in Istanbul - won his domestic title with 8.20m.
Double European race walking champion Antigoni Ntrismpioti also won the 3000m race walk in a world leading 12:18.26.
Elsewhere around Europe…
The second day of the Ukrainian Indoor Championships in Kyiv on Saturday (18) saw a world-class competition in the women’s high jump even in the absence of European indoor and outdoor champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh.
The title was won by 2017 world silver medalist Yuliya Levchenko who beat former European U20 champion Kateryna Tabashnyk on countback at 1.96m. Olympic and world fourth-placer Iryna Gerashchenko had to settle for third with 1.92m.
At the Czech Indoor Championships in Ostrava, former world U20 champion Amalie Svabikova added a massive 12 centimetres to her lifetime best to win the pole vault with 4.72m, beating Jiřina Ptacnikova’s nine-year-old Czech indoor record.
Meanwhile, reigning European indoor champion Tomas Stanek flexed his title credentials by winning the shot with 21.43m. Track highlights included Zdenek Stromsik winning the 60m in 6.59 and Matej Krsek prevailing in the 400m in 46.14.
In-form Reetta Hurske approached her Finnish 60m hurdles record at the Finnish Indoor Championships in Helsinki on Sunday (19). Hurske won the title in 7.83, just 0.02 shy of her national record.
At the Irish Indoor Championships in Abbotstown, European 100m finalist Israel Olatunde won the men’s 60m title in an Irish record of 6.57 and Darragh McElhinney clocked a fast 7:49.18 in the 3000m.
At the Belgian Indoor Championships in Gent on Sunday (19), Elliot Crestan defeated Tibo de Smet in the 800m - 1:49.26 to 1:49.65 and Rani Rosius won the women’s 60m title in 7.20.
Combined events specialist Jana Koscak, 16, set a high jump personal best of 1.91m at the Croatian Indoor Championships in Zagreb on Sunday.
Daniela Stanciu cleared 1.93m at the Romanian Indoor Championships in Bucharest.
Chris Broadbent and Steven Mills for European Athletics