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In an event with a limited attendance (500 people) I hoped at least not to have parking problems. but it was not so: the (small) parking area of the stadium is reserved for accredited visitors and ordinary spectators are diverted to a nearby shopping center. Having to hand in the self-certification form and collect the ticket, I had instead taken into account some queue at the entrance, but not such a big one: there is only one counter and to enter it takes half an hour, in which the first two rounds of men's hammer throw take plac. In the first part of the queue you can see the throws (but without having an idea of the measure), then you can only rely on the speaker and the website.
The main grandstand is for the accredited: the common spectators are on the straight opposite the finish. Seats are even more sparse than in Todi: one row out of two is empty, in the other one out of two is filled. As in Todi, the face mask must be kept: at first it is a bit annoying, also given the heat, but after a while you don't notice it anymore.
I am in the sixth row, just before the middle of the straight: first the hammer and then the women's discus can be seen very well. The pole vault can also be seen quite well, despite being on the far side. The problem is that you do not see the scoreboard (which must be there, there is one for all the events), so to know who the athletes are I have to constantly look to the website. The first is my fellow citizen (considering the town of origin) from Monza Pirovano, who will make 3 fouls at the initial height (3.50)
After the men's hammer and women's PV, the third event to start is the women's triple jump. Normally an advantage of staying on the opposite straight is that you can see well the horizontal jumps, but that's not the case today: they take place on the other side. So you see very little, but on the other hand it is the race that is most showed on the screen, so you can follow it there. The home athlete Zanon immediately takes the lead and the speaker gets excited, but the attendance not so much: I have the impression that only a minority of the attendance is from Padua.
The hammer throw ends: balanced race, albeit on not exceptional measures: 13 centimeters between the first two, just over two meters between the first and fourth. It gives way to the women's discus, which begins after the triple jump, will reach it at the end of the third round and will end when the triple is still in the fifth jump. In discus one wonders if this time Osakue will be able to win, after failing in the last two years, despite being already n.1, The doubt remains for a long time, given that the first two throws end up in the cage . In the third she makes just over 50 meters and ends up third, in the fourth she will fix everything with 58.24, but it will remain the only throw that would have been enough to win. Final with a bang in the triple, with lead changes at the third and second last jump: first Cestonaro, then Derkach, who returns to decent levels (13.58), take the lead.
After two hours there is the first track event: since there are no long distances (beyond 800) the races are less than usual. I have a panel behind the podium that covers me a good stretch of the last meters and, from my low position, I can't see the lines, so I will get to the end without having understood exactly where the finish was. It starts with the heats of women's 200: Kaddari impresses in the third, 23.61 in great ease. In the men's 200s I only discover at the end that Desalu is not in the race, so I think I can miss the final.
Then there are the 400hs finals: very few people place the hurdles, it seems to me only two. Instead, there will be more to lower them for the women's race. Men's race with Lambrughi great favourite, but Contini starts strong and keeps up to the final straight, then stumbles on the ninth hurdle (I had the impression that he got hurt before, but they say he didn't). In the women's race Folorunso comes into the final straight with a huge advantage, so much so that I wonder if she is doing very well or the others badly, then she loses a little and wins by just under a second, in 56.48
It is 6.30 pm: I have to go in an hour and I wonder of which events I will be able to see the end of. I think I will of PV, it's close. The women's high jump has just started: I think I will not make it, instead it lasts less than expected: at 1.82 yhey are 7, none clears them at the first, two (Furlani and Vallortigara) at the second, one (Morara) at the third. I'll just have time to see the only successful attempt at 1.84, Vallortigara's third. The women's javelin has not started yet and I think they will wait for PV to finish, as the platforms cross, instead they start before. At a certain point we see a throw exceeding the 55-meter marker and I see that it is Visca's (who, anyway, in Bani's absence is the only one that I am sure I would recognize). For the men's triple jump there is still a little to wait, and in fact I won't even be able to see the whole first round.
But above all the men's shot put has just begun, but I will be able to see it all. From my position the perspective is deceiving: the throws seem all shorter. Weir's first seems to me to be just over 18 meters, instead it is 19.77, even the first by Fabbri does not seem much beyond 20, instead it is already over 21. After Fabbri's fifth throw the speaker gets excited and I think he is exaggerating, even if both live, and from the screen you can see that it is a lot over 20 meters, but I don't think much beyond 21. Instead, 21.99! It will end with the first at 21.99 and the second at 20.31: only a few years ago it was hard to go beyond 19! Many have already spoken of Italian team coach La Torre's statements on throws as a waste of time, so no need for me to do it too (okay, one more, one less ...)
After Kaddari's splendid victory in 200, I try to get out from where I entered, but I am told that the exit is on the opposite side (it was the same in Todi). So I have to sidewalk the whole straight: I see up close the finalists of the men's 200 and also Fabbri, who looks much younger than on TV.
