Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions Massimo Stano and Antonella Palmisano headline Italy’s team for the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, Czech Republic on 21 May.
Stano followed up his Olympic 20km race walk triumph with gold in the 35km race walk at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon last summer but he will be contesting the shorter of the two distances in Podebrady later this month.
For Palmisano, this will be her first significant competition since winning gold in the 20km race walk at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The 31-year-old has only raced once since then due to a combination of illness and injury but has returned to competition just in time to defend her title in Podebrady.
Not only did Palmisano win individual 20km gold in 2021, she also won this title at the 2017 edition of the European Race Walking Team Championships which was also held in Podebrady.
The Italian team also welcomes back Eleonora Giorgi who is returning to competition after maternity leave. Giorgi won silver in the 35km race walk behind Antigoni Ntrismpioti two years ago but will join forces with Palmisano in the 20km race walk this year.
The full Italian team for Podebrady can be found here.
Final entries for the European Race Walking Team Championships will be published at the end of the week.
The European Race Walking Team Championships will be streamed live through the European Athletics YouTube channel on 21 May and will be accompanied by expert English-language commentary.
There will also be comprehensive coverage of the championships on the European Athletics website and across our social media channels.