European Under 20 Athletics Championships: Apulian Giuseppe Disabato wins silver in the 10km walk

Italy secured its sixth medal at the U20 European Athletics Championships in Tampere, where the final day of competition began. Following yesterday's podium finishes (Nappi took gold in the 200m, Di Fabio silver in the women's walk), another second-place finish came from the walk, courtesy of Giuseppe Disabato in the men's 10km race. He also set an Italian record for the category, clocking 39:20. The race was won by Spain's Joan Querol, who, after a lengthy duel with the 18-year-old from Puglia, overtook him on the final lap, winning in 39:10, a championship record. Spain's Daniel Montfort also took bronze. The other two Italian athletes competing were Alessio Coppola, who finished sixth, and Omar Moretti, seventh.

"I'm happier with the time than with the position. I believed in it until the end; I came here to win, but every race is different, and today it showed," Disabato commented. "I set a very strong pace and made my selection. I tried to break away from Querol, but in the last two laps he made a change that I didn't have; unfortunately, I was running out of energy." "Many say I can be the future of race walking: the road is still long, but my dream is to pass the baton to Massimo Stano and Antonella Palmisano," the Apulian continued. "There are many other strong Italians who inspire me, like Fortunato and Orsoni. I have high expectations for the future."