Paralympic, World Athletics Championships, Rehm always amazes, Caironi tries again

Him, always him, very strongly him. As always, Markus Rehm is the most applauded, sought after and photographed athlete at the World and Paralympic Games. And he never disappoints. He didn’t even do it at the World Championships in Paris, gold and championship record in his usual show of the Paralympic long jump, which once again, thanks to him, has measures that cannot be reached at the Olympic level. The German champion wins in 8.49, the absolute best seasonal measure, because the Indian Aldrin, among the Olympics, stopped at 8.42. A beautiful race for Rehm, who hits the championship lead in the last jump in a competition that brings together three different categories, in which Italy’s Marco Cicchetti also took part. The jumper T44 (injury to a lower limb) of the Fiamme Azzurre, already satisfied with the fourth world championship place in the 100m, performs well in a very high level competition so as to take sixth position just like in Tokyo.

The blue

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The specialty continental bronze immediately grabs fourth place with the inaugural jump at 6.41 with wind at the limit (+1.9) and many opponents out of the game. On the second attempt, with an annoying headwind of -2.7, he gains 17 centimeters (6.58) but slips one place down the standings. In the following three measures (a null, 4.36, 4.49) he is seventh but the last performance of 6.64 is the one that counts for the final placement: “It was a wonderful race where I repeated my sixth place Tokyo. I managed to place all beautiful chases and apart from one nil, I’m very happy with this. The most important thing is that I managed to beat my direct T44 rivals and I managed it very well”.

Dreams postponed

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Riccardo Bagaini, on the other hand, is forced to postpone his world championship dreams. The Piedmontese sprinter is disqualified from the final of the 400 T47s for having touched the corner line in a race that had seen him get what would have been fourth place in 49.07 at the finish line. For the European bronze there are only tears and desperation: “I don’t have many words, what I can say is that I’m sorry and angry because I threw away a season for next year. Finishing fourth meant going to the Paralympics, so instead the road is uphill. In Tokyo I missed it for 31 cents, here because I’m stupid. I’m sorry, I let down my coach, my family, the federation. Times count when they’re official, here I did something silly and this will come back to me for the rest of my life because, in a world final like this, I missed an opportunity. I didn’t want to have to go to Kobe (for the next World Cup) because it’s more difficult, the first two are there and it’s in May. The train passes once. It passed through Tokyo the first time and I lost it, it passes again and I lose it again. I hope tomorrow to look at it with different eyes, but I’m resentful, I’m carrying it with me. I hope it passes but you don’t do these things. You want to be with the grown-ups, you have to be smart. Yesterday I competed as a veteran as many people defined me, today I competed as a cadet, how sad”. Very strict with himself, but he has the opportunity to make up for Paris, thanks also to the help of the friends of Fly to Paris, the group of art4sport athletes, the association of Bebe Vio, who are aiming for the Paralympics. Saturday 15 July is the only match scheduled for the national team, but one of those that count. At 18.40 (live RaiSport from 18.30) the multi-medal and world champion Martina Caironi will try to get back on the podium in the long T63, where she holds the world record with 5.46m, after the silver earned in the 100 T63 on Thursday.