Having topped the table at the last edition in Chorzów, the Italians once again impressed in a hot and sultry Madrid
Italy continued their dominance of European athletics by retaining their title at the European Team Championships (June 26-29).
In a competition where each discipline victory garnered 16 points, the Italians smashed through the 400-point barrier with a grand total of 431.5 in the Spanish capital.
Poland finished second with 405.5 points while Germany completed the top three with 381 points.
Italy however were just too good for the rest and their supremacy continued on the final day of action.
Leonardo Fabbri put together a fine series of shot put throws, with his best of 21.68m more than good enough to win. It was the 13th time that the world silver medallist had gone over 21m this season and he will one to watch in Tokyo.
It took Larissa Iapichino until the fifth round to secure the win in the long jump but the European silver medallist did in style with a best mark of 6.92m (0.2). She saw off the challenge of Malaika Mihambo, who had a best of 6.84m.
The Italian quartet of Edoardo Scotti, Virginia Troiani, Vladimir Aceti and Alice Mangione rounded off a stellar championships for their nation with second in the mixed 4x400m, running a national record of 3:09.66 behind Poland’s 3:09.43.
Earlier in the championships, Nadia Battolcletti won the 5000m; Ayomide Folorunso (400m hurdles), Eseosa Fostine Desalu (200m), Francesco Pernici (800m), Lorenzo Simonelli (110m hurdles), Matteo Sioli (high jump) and Simone Biasutti (triple jump) all placed second, while Mattia Furlani (long jump), Eloisa Coiro (800m) and Erika Giorgia Anoeta Saraceni (triple jump) finished third.
That strength in depth was more than enough to see Italy continue their dominance across the continent, off the back of topping the table at last year’s European Championships on home soil.
Elsewhere on the final day of action, Niels Laros – just a few days after being a pacer for Faith Kipyegon at Breaking4 in Paris – won the 5000m. The Dutch athlete, in brutally hot conditions, produced a 52.6o final lap to take the victory in 13:44.45.
Given the circumstances, most of the longer distance races were slower than usual and that was no different in the 3000m steeplechase, with Finland’s Ilona Mononen running down Sarah Tait on the home straight.
Tait, just a fortnight after placing fourth in the NCAA 3000m steeplechase final in Oregon, looked to be on for victory in Madrid but was just caught on the line by Mononen, with the pair running 9:49.21 and 9:49.24 respectively.
The two 1500m races brought equal amounts of drama. Isaac Nader continued his incredible 2025 season by taking victory in the men’s event, with the Portuguese athlete producing a 52.02 last to take the win in 3:39.08. He had already triumphed at the Oslo Diamond League and then reduced his personal best in the distance to 3:29.37 in Ostrava.
Agathe Guillemot prevailed in the women’s event, clocking 4:08.72 to win an extremely tactical race. She was just too strong on the home straight, with Salomé Afonso second in 4:09.01 and Revée Walcott-Nolan third with 4:09.16.
Reigning Olympic and world champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh was pushed by Maria Zozdik in the high jump but she came out on top in the end with a best clearance of 2.00m, beating the Pole by three centimetres.
One of the best Spanish performances at the championships came from Jaël Bestué, who won the 200m from lane eight in 22.19 (0.8). That mark broke Sandra Myers’ 35-year-old national record of 22.38 from 1990.
Great Britain placed fifth overall with 381 points. Toby Harries and Revée Walcott-Nolan were the only individuals to finish in the top three on the final day, with the pair running 20.25 over 200m and 4:09.16 in the 1500m respectively.
The British quartet of Sam Reardon, Lina Nielsen, Toby Harries and Emily Newnham finished third in the mixed 4x400m with 3:09.66.
