The legend says that he still roams the stands of the Nemzeti Atlétikai Központ stadium in Budapest, half naked in the Hungarian heat, beard shaved on one side, mismatched shoes, smile on his face. Two years after sharing gold at the Tokyo Games with Mutaz Essa Barshim, the whimsical Gianmarco Tamberi soared solo at the world athletics championships in Budapest, after clearing a bar at 2.36m on Tuesday August 22.
The Italian, reigning European champion, had never tasted victory in the world championships. Fourth at the Eugene Worlds (United States), in 2022, the Italian has so far evolved in the shadow of his friend Mutaz Essa Barshim, triple world champion in the discipline (2017, 2019, 2022).
But the Qatari could not keep pace this time. After six continuous years of reigning over the world championships, Mutaz Essa Barshim settled for a bar of 2.33m, synonymous with third place. American JuVaughn Harrison finished second after clearing the same bar as Tamberi (2.36m), but on the second try. Note that in this very tough competition, six men erased 6.33 m. A density that had not been seen for thirty years on world championships.
The Tamberi spectacle
In the Hungarian night, the atmosphere rose crescendo. After a surprise breakdown by Steven Gardiner over 400 meters, a lap in total control by Femke Bol, and an expected success by Faith Kipyegon over 1,500 m, the high jump and discus competitions returned a boiling stadium. To bring the thermometer back down, Gianmarco Tamberi found the solution: a dip in the steeplechase river, at the end of an anthology celebration.
While the stadium was emptying of its last supporters, the Italian, drunk with happiness, continued the festivities for a long time, he who had missed the Rio Games due to injury and who had shared the Olympic title thanks to a unique arrangement in more than a hundred years of Olympism, with Mutaz Essa Barshim. This time, the Italian will climb alone, at 31, on the first step of the podium. A personal achievement: “I feel like a human who has beaten superheroes”, declared the person concerned to the Italian newspaper Repubblica. With this victory, Italy returns to gold in the world championships after more than twenty years of scarcity, after the title of pole vaulter Giuseppe Gibilisco in Paris, in 2003.
Tausaga steals the show from Allman, Robert-Michon misses out
Earlier in the evening, the first surprise came from the discus with the victory of the young Laulaga Tausaga with a throw of 69.49m, beating on her penultimate throw her compatriot Valérie Allman, reigning Olympic champion (69.23 m). Narrowly entering among the eight finalists, the young woman of Hawaiian origin completely overturned the competition by improving her personal best by more than 4 meters (previously estimated at 65.46 m). No competitor, not even recording legend Sandra Perkovic, was able to do better in the sixth and final round. The 2022 world champion, Feng Bin, settled for third place with a throw of 68.20m.
Also involved in the competition, for her 10th world championship, Mélina Robert-Michon did not hide her bitterness. At 43, the dean of the French athletics team peaked at 63.46m (9ᵉ) and failed to enter the top eight of her competition to benefit from three additional tries. “I feel like things are falling into place and I haven’t gone all the way to what I can do yet. Budapest serves as a crossing time before the Paris Games, ”confided the thrower to the World ahead of the championships, hoping to aim for a top 5.
If the expected result is not there, the temperature is taken. To aim for a medal in Paris, it will be necessary to throw further, at 68.20 m if we judge the disc competition tonight, or 1.47 m more than his French record (66.73 m) . And then perhaps, in turn create surprise in a discipline in full renewal.