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I arrive near the stadium and I wonder if it is the right stadium: I recognize the surroundings (I had been there three times: in 2004, in 2017 and in 2021), but the main grandstand looks stranger to me and above all it seems too empty . True that there is still half an hour left, but they should also have done an "opening ceremony". I check: in Grosseto there is only one stadium. I park on the opposite side of the main grandstand, then I enter through a side gate, probably a service one, but they let me in anyway.
I get to the stands at around 10.45 and a few people are there, even if I wonder how many of them are ordinary spectators: if I'm not the only one, we are close to it. Of course, a wide choice of seats is left: I think I will follow each race from a different point, also considering that men's long jump and women's high junp, which are in two opposite spots, should not overlap. Then I wonder where shot put will take place: I see only one platform not covered, but without markers. The answer will come from an Instagram story by Decathletes of Europe: on the warm-up field (like discus tomorrow), not to spoil the football field. It should be noted that not only the Grosseto football team came last in third division, but the season is also over !. I wonder if it was worth hosting an event under these conditions.
For men's 100 (and then women's 100hs) I settle in the middle of the straight, but the view is obstructed by the lots of people standing against the balustrade. We start with the 100: three heats, of the 22 startes announced on the eve, 19 start. Almost everyone makes his personal best, including Dester, who comes second with 10.76, and wind seem not a factors even if for a while it will not be communicated. In the break before 100hs I take a tour and visit the warm-up field, where I see the former president of national federation, Mr Giomi. Even in 100hs there will be many PBs, including Gerevini's with 13.60, but not like in 100.
The runways of LJ are towards the main grandstand, in the opposite direction to the track. Of the one closest to the grandstand, where the weakest will jump, you don't see much because of the people at the balustrade, the other is a little more visible, despite a sun umbrella. I settle in the start area and I can see well at least the landing of the group of the best. The metric bar is very precise, so you understand the measures well, the speaker also announces almost all of them: when Modugno makes 6.66 he will say "the devil's number". The sandbox seems a bit short, you just need tojump 7.70 to finish. with your feet out You begin to understand how the decathlon will go: the two Norwegians go over 7.70 in the second round, Dester closes with a crescendo with 7.61.
There is a pause before women's HJ: I take this opportunity to get something to eat, there are a couple of hours before the longest break, after men's SP. For high jump, almost everyone moves to the parterre along the bend, while I move to the other side, but I stay in the stands: it's hot and I want to avoid the sun. Both groups start at 1.50: in the strong one there is Rueckstuhl who has some problems and will get to 1.62 with many errors, before exiting at 1.65. All the Italians are in the other group: Gerevini starts at 1.56 and up to 1.65 she seems to have a wide margin, then she will stop at 1.68. In her group none will do better, while in the other Ligarska wins at 1.83
I leave Ligarska to its attempts at 1.86 and move to the warm-up field, where the men's SP has already started. The platforms are on the opposite side from the entrance (and there is also a sign "No entry to the public"...), facing each other. I arrive that the first round is almost over, just in time to see Dester's 13.90.
Given the few competitors, at 2.30 pm it was all over. At the bar I meet Puerto Rican heptathlete Felix Boyer, who tells how, between injuries and the pandemic, she has not competed for three years. Someone (wearing the Goetzis meeting shirt, perhaps one of the organizers) asks her if she will make ... the Commonwealth Games! Of course she is very surprised and she thinks she hasn't understood the question. I eat a focaccia at the stadium bar, then a sandwich at the one just outside.
At 3.45 there are again two simultaneous events in different fields. I start with women's SP, since it will last less. I follow a little one platform, a little bit the other, for the first two rounds. They left the markets of the men's race: 14 and 15 meters in the strong group, 12 and 13 in the weak one: it becomes very difficult even to reach the first one, only three will succeed. This time I follow HJ from the parterre along the bend myself: you can see it from very close, but on the other hand you have the fence's grate before. On the way I meet Naidon, and from there I understand he is already out. As I arrive I feel that Dester clears 1.92 on third, then he will also make 1.95, then he will stop. Only four clear 1.98 (plus two in the other group), but three go beyond 2.04: two stop there, Skotheim still makes 2.07, then 2.10, then 2.13 all on first. He also clears 2.16 on third, then stops after a miss at 2.19.
I return to the grandstand for the final races: there is a long break, despite the 15 minute advance (then it will be 10). The spectators are much fewer than in the morning. We get to the women's 200: also here many PBs, while Gerevini remains 7/100 from last year's time. Followed by the men's 400: three heats, but in the second four competitors are left. Just in the second there is an incredible 47.60 from the French. In the last Dester starts slowly, but in the final straight he catches them all, which seem blocked, and closes in 47.76.
It's time to go, with the regret of not being able to follow the second day as well. A day to remember, however, as the first sporting event seen without a mask after 26 months. When I went to watch the Italian tennis championships, at the restart after the lockdown, it was also the first time I had kept the mask for many hours in a row.
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