Here we are. Watching the Italian boys and girls compete at National Champs in Ancona, you already get a sense of Rieti 2026, the European Athletics Under 18 Championships scheduled from 16 to 19 July. Leading everyone by the hand and showcasing the wonders of top-level youth athletics is Alessia Succo, together with a group of 16 and 17-year-old Italians eager to challenge their peers from across the continent.
At the helm is the 2009-born athlete from Atletica Settimese who once again set the U18 World Best in the 60m hurdles: “The European Championships at home will be an incredible emotion,” she says. At the PalaCasali, during the Italian Indoor Championships, she rewrote her record exactly one year after the first time, which also happened here. An 8.05 that echoed around the world and looks ahead to the continental stage. Alessia Succo and Kelly Doualla (queen of the 60m and already deservedly established among senior athletics) are the flagbearers of an Italian national team that is already beginning to take shape, five months ahead of the challenges at the Guidobaldi Stadium.