martedì 15 agosto 2017

World Championships in Athletics in London - Day 10 and final (13-8-2017)

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I arrive at the Mall (venue to Buckingham Palace, where the walking races take place) at 9.30am. The 50 km. hass just passed the 20 km mark: Diniz goes on alone, regal, seems to stroll while others binge behind him. The audience is very different from the stadiumone: the British are almost non-existent, they will be more for the two 20 km, but they will be still a minority. Many Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese and even Italian people are seen. I see the group of Antonelli family members on the other side of the road, after a couple of rounds through (there were two points where you could cross the course in dead moments) and join them.

There are two maxischerms, one for each side, but from my position I barely see one. Then there is the board for disqualification proposals, but it shows the walkers by,  number, while on the bibs they have only their names, so the only way to figure out who it is is to look at the IAAF app, but it does not open (in fact later I will notice that the number is on bibs, but very small). At a certain point I can see on the screen that Antonelli has two and De Luca one, then De Luca takes the second and at some point I see a judge approaching him, but then he thinks over and does not disquaify him.

After half the race lapping begin, so that in thefinal kilometers for one who should arrive at that time it would be impossible to understand the situation. A group of Spaniards sees a countryman immediately behind Diniz and perhaps for a moment believes he is second. I too am confused and I believe that De Luca arrives 8th instead of 9th because among those who come back on him, I did not notice a Pole, whom I thought was a lap behind. At a certain point Diniz seems on the road to lap everyone, eventually three will be saved.

There are also the women, who go on in the general indifference. If I had not seen it at the beginning on the app, I would never understand which is the leading group. Only at 2/3 of the race, when the Portuguese takes off, they start to get some attention. The speaker magnifies this first edition of the women's race, saying that "circumstances" have made it improvised, as if it had not been an IAAF decision.

For the women's race, I move a bit further towards the finish line, where I find a group of Italian fans. Shortly after the start, Tamberi comes to see us: he's making a tour of Italian fans. Someone tells him "see you in Tokyo" and he answers "even before". I tell him I was ready to go to the stadium half-shaved.

Palmisano is always in the lead, while the group gets smaller and smaller, until they remain 4. On the last lap, a bit from the speaker (who chatters, but does not tell much about what happens), somewhat form a glimpse on the screen, we understand that the Palmisano has lost contact, and in fact when it appears to us she seems to be irremediably fourth. We are therefore resigned to get nothing in these WCH. But I noticed that the scoreboard reported disqualification for a number that corresponded to a Chinese, but as the Chinese ahead is still in the race, I thought it was the third one, the one behind. After the finisish we find instead that the disqualified Chinese was one of those in the lead and that Palmisano gets bronze: finally a satisfaction.

After the finish I approach the finish line, but they stop us for the athletes' exit. An Asian lady does not stop and is treated very badly. I note that stewards do not take into consideration the idea that one may not understand English.

I see the men's 20 km. already started, as I took something to eat. At the first step I see Rubino and Fortunato back, after Indians, Kenyans and Turks. I illude myself that Giupponi is ahead of them and I did not noticehim, but it's still behind. At the end Rubino comes back up to 16th place, a placement that in a track race we would find good, and even Fortunato at least makes his PB.

Before I leave, I find that there are also the medal ceremonies: I thought they would be held at the stadium. They do not specify where they are, I was thinking of the finish line, but they are somewhere in the direction of Buckingham Palace. Here they have flagpoles to hoist the flags. For the speaker, Palmisano becomes "Palmissino".

This time I was able to enter the stadium in good anticipation, despite the queue, but I order a pizza at its kiosk and I have to wait for delivery. So I still risk  not to get in time for the start, in the end I'll just sit down in time for the first high jump. I am in 22rd row, second bend: a perfect position to follow high jump, which I thought would be the main race for Italy. Instead, besides being without Italians, it is an incredibly disapponting race. Already at the beginning, an athlete does not jump and one retires after a single jump: it is a pity that in athletics there are no reserves. Then, in spite of a not too fast height progression, three heights cleared are enough to go for a medal and two to come Sixth. Most of all, with the same combination of height and misses as Tamberi in qualification one would have come fourth.
The women's discus, which seems to have already decided on the 6th overall throw, Perkovic's first, but that launch alone would not have been enough to win: Perkovic wins because he gets better, but Samuels holds his head.
Given the brevity of the high, already at 20.40 only relays and medal ceremonies are left. The races end (a little late) with the incredible victory of Trinidad & Tobago in the 4X400. This time, however, nobody leaves: there are the medal ceremonies and above all the final walkthrough of Bolt, which runs a lap at the rhythm of "Reggae Night" (this time they change: when Jamaica was involved they always played "Jammin") and receives a piece of the Olympic Games track (yes, they still sell it , I bought a pair of keychains myself: but do they never sell it out?) with number 7, like his individual gold medals at WCHs.
The last Anthem played is Trinidad & Tobago's: a lady behind me in the disabled area sings it. On the way out I meet a group of Qatariots and I say "see you in Doha". But first there is Berlin, perhaps Birmingham and, for athletics in general, more modestly Rieti.



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