European indoor champion Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy matched the world outdoor lead in the high jump with a 2.30m clearance in Ancona on Sunday (28).
This was Tamberi’s third competition of the week after clearing 2.25m in Formia last weekend and then 2.21m in a virtual competition in Ancona on Thursday when he faced teammate Stefano Sottile along with Germany's Mateusz Przybylko and Jamal Wilson from the Bahamas.
Jumping off an approach of eleven strides for the first time outdoors this year, Tamberi required three attempts at 2.22m but the 28-year-old didn’t face quite as many difficulties at the next two heights, clearing 2.27m and then 2.30m on his second attempts.
The next height of 2.34m proved impregnable on this occasion for Tamberi whose next competitions are scheduled for August. Summing up his first three competitions, he said: “If I had to take stock, Formia remains the best competition because I jumped there with a 9-step run-up,” he said.
Forza!
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) June 29, 2020
European indoor champion Gianmarco Tamberi matched the world lead with 2.30m in Ancona yesterday.
Video from @atleticaitalia.pic.twitter.com/VhpNdldd2r
Competitions in Italy are still taking place behind closed doors but Tamberi could count on the support of his fellow competitors as well as a small circle of friends and family who watched him from the perimeter of the stadium.
“I have enormous support, but I was so pleased that my maternal grandparents Marcello and Graziella were there too, with mother Sabrina. Nonno Marcello also cried after 2.30m, it was beautiful,” he said.
With most significant competitions in 2020 either cancelled or postponed, Tamberi's principal goal this year is the Rome Golden Gala which is scheduled for 17 September.
Rooth makes U20 decathlon breakthrough in Oslo
One day after Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer leapt out to 8.15m in the long jump, European U20 decathlon bronze medallist Markus Rooth from Norway demonstrated he is also making excellent progress in the combined events.
Rooth, 18, moved to second on the world U20 decathlon all-time list behind Germany’s Niklas Kaul with a score of 8238 points in Oslo, smashing the previous Norwegian U20 record of 7815 points as well as his previous lifetime best of 7692 points which was set at the 2019 European U20 Championships.
His performance was all the more outstanding as the second day of the decathlon was held in heavy rain which even forced the pole vault to be temporarily postponed. But seven individual lifetime bests, including five on the first day, helped Rooth to a score far in excess of the 8000 points-barrier.
Sander Aea Skotheim produced an impressive total of 7839 points to finish second while Toralv Opsal, the previous Norwegian U20 record-holder, won the senior decathlon with 7691 points.
Elsewhere in Europe…
Michaela Meijer cleared a world lead and outdoor lifetime best of 4.72m in the pole vault in Molndal on Sunday (28) ahead of Angelica Bengtsson with 4.52m.
In Bottnaryd on Saturday (27) world champion Daniel Stahl threw 64.92m in the discus ahead of training partner Simon Pettersson 63.63m. Kim Amb won the javelin with 82.29m and Iceland’s Asdis Hjalmsdottir came close to her national record with 62.66m in the women’s javelin.
Competing as a guest at the Swiss Championships in Uster on Friday (26), Austria’s Andreas Votja set a world lead of 28:30.28 ahead of Germany’s Simon Boch (28:31.94). Swiss-based Ethiopian Helen Bekele Tola won the women’s race in 32:12.49 from Fabienne Schlumpf in 32:16.37.
Former world bronze medallist Robert Urbanek from Poland threw 65.99m in Aleksandrow on Saturday (27) while Portugal’s Irina Rodrigues set a season’s best of 62.93m in the discus in Leiria on Saturday.