World Athletics Championships, this is how the unprecedented and winning blue relay was born

From our correspondent Claudio Lenzi

August 25th
– BUDAPEST

There was only one certainty on the eve, Marcell Jacobs. When the 100m Olympian is well and available, the blue 4x100m is built around him. It was like this in Tokyo, with the Olympic gold and the Italian record (37″50) and it’s like this in Budapest too (37″65), where Italy returns to play in a world final one year after Eugene’s exclusion and from the European Championship in Munich, in both cases without Marcell. But that’s not all.

CHESS

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Filippo Di Mulo, the federal speed technical referent, for once had problems with abundance, with Tortu and Desalu free from commitments in the 200m, Patta recovered from the elongation suffered on July 23rd and also the reserves Ricci and Simonelli. Wanting to exaggerate 15 combinations of which at least 5 are realistic. In the end he chose the most logical, i.e. a partial copy of the formation seen in Grosseto on 21 July, capable of running in 38 ”04: Rigali, Tortu, Patta, Ceccarelli.

WHO I AM

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Roberto Rigali, 28 years old, has a personal best of 10”25 in the 100m. In Grosseto he had convinced for speed and attitude and the confirmation has arrived. With Marcell Jacobs, 28, Olympic champion of the 100 and 4×100 in the second fraction (the longest and most suitable for his long levers), it only remained to choose who to corner, one between Lorenzo Patta, 23, and Fausto Desalu , 29, both protagonists of the Tokyo gold, but with the first fastest. Finally Filippo Tortu, certainly disappointing in the heats of the 200, but immovable when it comes to the relay, and therefore in fourth fraction in place of Ceccarelli, less brilliant at the beginning of the season. The unprecedented quartet has shown great reliability and is a candidate for a medal in tomorrow’s final, at 21.40.