Italy are the champions again!
The Azzuri made a successful defence of their European Athletics Team Championships 1st Division title which they won the first time at Silesia 2023.
Aligned with their record-setting medal table-topping performance at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships with 24 medals including 11 golds, it is a truly golden era of Italian athletics.
They held an overnight lead of 24 points on Germany with Poland a further 9.5 behind and on Sunday (29), they kept their nerve in the Estadio Vallehermoso with individual victories by Leonardo Fabbri (men’s shot put) and Larissa Iapichino (women’s long jump) putting the sheen on their day of victory.
Along with Nadia Battocletti’s win in the women’s 5000m on Friday (27), Italy had only three individual winners across the entire competition. But it was a victory founded on all-round strength with seven second places and nine fourth place across four days of competition.
Of the 37 events in the programme, Italian athletes were in the top eight in 30 competitions to give them a final total of 431.5. Poland moved up to second on 405.5 confirmed by their ever-reliable mixed 4x400m team, who triumphed in the final event. Germany were third in 397.
The Netherlands were fourth, their highest ever position, with an incredible eight individual victories. The final victories being a superb men’s 5000m victory by Niels Laros and a championhip record and European lead in the men's 200m by Xavi Mo-Ajok on Sunday (29).
Despite final day victories from Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Ilona Mononen in the women’s high jump and women’s 3000m steeplechase, Ukraine (231) and Finland (220.5) were relegated alongside sixteenth placed Lithuania (178.5).