Italy leads European Athletics Championships with 17 medals as Riva takes marathon silver

Men's marathon closes the championships

Italy closed the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham with a silver medal from Pietro Riva in the men's marathon, capping a campaign that placed the country at the top of the medal table with 17 total medals. The 29-year-old from Alba, competing for Fiamme Oro and coached by Olympic champion Stefano Baldini, crossed the line in 2h09'18", seven seconds behind Germany's Amanal Petros, who won gold in 2h09'11" and set a new championship record. Israel's Gashau Ayale took bronze in 2h09'21". Riva secured his podium place with a decisive surge in the final kilometer, gradually breaking apart a group of five to six athletes who had been contesting the lead on the course laid out through central Birmingham.

Women's marathon and team silver

In the women's marathon, Finland's Alisa Vainio dominated to win individual gold in 2h22'26", finishing well ahead of Hungary's Lili Anna Vindics-Tóth, silver in 2h27'21", and Britain's Abbie Donnelly, bronze in 2h27'33". Italy's Rebecca Lonedo, born in 1996 and also competing for Fiamme Oro, finished sixth in 2h27'55", with teammate Sofiia Yaremchuk seventh in 2h28'02" and Giovanna Epis 21st in 2h33'02". The team classification, which sums the times of all participants by nationality, earned Italy silver behind Great Britain and ahead of Spain.

Triple jump double

Andy Diaz won gold in the men's triple jump with 18.15 meters on his second attempt, setting a new Italian record and moving into first place for good. Portugal's Pedro Pichardo took silver with 17.76 meters, and Italy's Andrea Dallavalle claimed bronze with 17.37 meters, giving Italy two medals from a single event. The triple jump double was part of a productive Saturday for the Italian team, which collected seven medals across the day.

10,000 meters

Yeman Crippa, the Trentino middle-distance runner, finished fourth in the 10,000 meters in 28'08"56, missing bronze by just over six tenths of a second behind France's Jimmy Gressier (28'07"90). Sweden's Andreas Almgren, already a bronze medalist at last year's World Championships in Tokyo, won gold in 27'23"44, a new championship record, having seized the lead after 1,400 meters and holding it to the finish. Switzerland's Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu took silver in 27'42"67. Crippa was returning to the distance after three years focused on marathon and road events, making this his first 10,000m on the track in that span. He remains the Italian record holder at 27'10"76, set in October 2019.

Race walk and medal tally

Massimo Stano won gold in the race walk marathon, and 21-year-old Sofia Fiorini also took gold, setting a new world record in her event. Fortunato and Mihai added silver in the half race walk, with Cosi claiming bronze. Italy's seven medals on Saturday marked the country's highest single-day total at the European Championships. As of Saturday evening, the national team led the overall medal table with 17 total medals, with two marathon silvers added on the final day.