The day after the Golden Gala I went to Florence for the Italian U20 and U23 athletics championships. These are the Italian championships I like most, as in three days they have twice the races (actuaaly, every event has the U20 and the U23 race). I arrive in Florence by train around 10:10, in a slight delay, and this time there is no need to walk: the stadium is close to the Campo di Marte station.
I find the stands still empty, but at about 11 at least he area along the last 50 meters of the track is quite full. The rest remains empty, so when, at lunch time, attention moves on the high jump, you can move. It starts with long jump and hammer throw qualifications: there are no track events until 12. In hammer someone gives the impression of risking being dragged away by the tool: so, I think it's good to watch races not of top level every now and then, because you realize how difficult it is. If you see Fajdek (or even Lingua), the hammer seems weightless.
In one of the first breaks I meet a girl armed with three javelins and instinctively I move away. At lunch time, almost all the tables are occupied by the Fiamme Gialle Team, the largest group, but I had already decided to eat something at the counter, to continue following the races.
Around 16 o'clock the program begins to accumulate delays, first in throws, where hammer delays javelin by about half an hour, then in runs. Jumps, instead, start always in a slight advance. The most exciting race women's U23 long jump, with 3 athletes alternating in the lead, even if not with great measures. A good level for Italian standards was also mens's shot put, also U23.
The last race I can see is the 3000 steeple-chase U20 boys', after the four 100 finals. Nice race, very tight. Then I have to run to the station: the races continue for another couple of hours, but 9 hours of athletics can be enough, even for me.
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