Problems of plenty, therefore much appreciated, for the Italian 4×100 relay team, which at the Paris Olympics will have to defend the title won three years ago in Tokyo. With which men? Self Marcell Jacobs e Filip Tortu who are completing their American preparation are the undisputed starters, a strong candidacy is becoming that of Chituru Ali. The 25-year-old of Nigerian and Ghanaian origin had sent important signals during the indoor season, and even now that we have moved from the 60m track to the 100m outdoor one, the trend is confirmed: Ali goes fast. He runs 10.01 in an international meeting, with a very slight wind push beyond the permitted limits, at 2.2 meters per second instead of 2, which will not allow the time that from 1979 to 2018 was associated with the Italian record of Pietro Mennea. But in the meantime the meaning of the race in Nairobi, in the Gold stage of the Continental Tour, is clear: Italian speed has another man to count on. Although for the moment he has not been called up for the World Relays in Nassau, which on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 May will serve as the Olympic selection for the relays.
Athletics, Marcell Jacobs: “On May 18th I will do my first race in Rome”
Son of a Nigerian and Ghanaian, he grew up in the Como area
Chituru Ali (although the name is pronounced “Citru”) grew up in Albate, a neighborhood south of Como, to a Nigerian mother and Ghanaian father, and grew up in the Mottin family. Two years ago at the World Championships in Eugene he didn’t go well: out in the first round of the 100m, out in the semi-final in the 4x100m. At the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow last March he made the leap in quality, running in 6.53, the fourth best Italian performance of all time, qualifying for the final of the 60 before an injury stopped him immediately after the start. In Nairobi he found himself in an absolutely respectable field of participants, despite it being the B circuit of athletics: the Italian started from lane 8 with a less than brilliant reaction time (0.175), but on the throw he prepared a powerful final phase . At the finish line he placed fourth, just one tenth behind the American Kenny BednarekOlympic and world silver medalist in the 200m, who finished in 9.91 ahead of the Liberian Emmanuel Matadi (9.99) and to the British Jeremiah Azu (10.00). Ali preceded the Kenyan Ferdinand Omanya, fifth in 10.03 and eagerly awaited by the home crowd. Detail not to be overlooked: it was raining in Nairobi, the track was wet, a condition that sprinters don’t like and suggests improvements beyond the very little tailwind.
Athletics, Tortu debuts in Florida with 10″15 in the 100 meters
He hadn’t run the 100 in two years
Chituru Ali hasn’t run in the 100 since 2022, due to a physical problem that compromised last season. His personal score is still 10.12, difficult to reconcile with his evident improvement at this start of the Olympic year. Thanks to the work with the coach Claudio Licciardello in Castelporziano, which allowed him to become the fourth Italian ever considering windy and non-windy performances. Entering an elite that includes the Marcell Jacobs in Tokyo (9.80), Filip Tortu first Italian to go under the ten second barrier in regular conditions and obviously Mennea. Better synchronization in the relay changes still needs to be found, which is why Ali was not called up for the Bahamas. But the door for the European Championships in Rome and the Olympics is still wide open, and he has to beat his rivals for a place in the relay: Roberto Rigali e Lorenzo Patta who were in the silver team at the World Championships in Budapest, a Eseosa Fostine Desalu which was in the one in Tokyo, a Lorenzo Simonelli who possesses pure speed even if dedicated to obstacles, a Samuel Ceccarelli who wants to return to the European gold of the 60s. The race towards Paris is still long, but not that long.
#Chituru #Ali #fourth #Jacobs #Tortu #Mennea #light #wind #4×100 #Paris
– 2024-04-21 10:33:03
