Athletics: Fly Europe in Rome (20-9)

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The races started at 5 p.m., but for work problems I can only arrive at 5.35. I think I will find the square full and find it hard to see something, but I got used too well in London: I actually find no more than 3-4 rows and for the place I have a choice embarassment. Fidal, the Italian athletics federation will speak of "thousands of spectators," but for me, they may be little more than 1000.

I arrive during the pole vault: I see the German clear his height , Menaldo of France misses. When they show the rankings, I find that Stecchi had cleared his, which will remain the only one of the day, and arrives second in the round (every round counts as a separate race). I thought they would do one race at a time, instead they play one round for each of the three races and then start over again. The jumps I saw were the last in the first round: they start with 30 meters again, the track is attached to Pincio (in the middle there is the long jump platform, towards the center of the square the PV.) I move closer to the start : from there I can see the first 20 meters, not so much the finish. In a stadium it would be an enviable situation, but in the square and with so few people I hope for more: I try to climb Pincio, thinking that from there I could see well. On the stairway, where there are a few people, I find that long jump can be seen well, at least run and take-off, while you cannot understand the result well. After LJ ends, I try from the first terrace, but if there was nobody, it was for a reason: the sight is obstructed by the tents. So I go down again for PV, which is the race that you see best: jumps seen from below, especially from below the uprights, are very impressive.

In the third round the Spaniard jumps diagonally and ends out of the mattress. It's frightening to think what would happen if he had fallen down from the platform (which is about one meter above ground): he gets a little hurt in his ankle, but it should not be anything serious, though of course he will not jump again. Meanwhile Stecchi cannot make a good jump anymore, he gives the impression of not being able to load the pole. For other races I try different positions, but none offers a perfect vision.

In the end it was a fun race: it would have been more with a more uncertain outcome, instead Germany dominated, but Italy came second, thanks mainly to Strati, who came second in all rounds. Of course, the 30 meters is a very odd race: you don't have the time to reach the maximum speed that it's already finished. Sorry  for not finding a perfect view: probably the only point from which everyone could see everything was the bench on which Fidal president Giomi was sitting with other VIPs, obviously not open to the public. There may have been a good view on the main terrace of Pincio, which was full, but I did not go upstairs so much. For the live audience it would probably be better with rwversed platforms, i.e. with PV on the Pincio side, but as Gazzetta dello Sport said, these races are built for TV. Not for "spettatore comune" (common spectator)...