By now, she has little left of English: in addition to her surname, in more than one interview she said that the reference to her country of origin resurfaces when she has to express feelings and when she always speaks frankly and directly. Fiona May has written and given exciting sports pages to Italy, especially in athletics , a discipline where, excluding some isolated peaks, she still struggles to trace a continuity.
Her life, her passion for long jump and the medals hanging around her neck are all under the green, white and red flag.. Fiona, born Slough on 12 December 1969, despite her retirement from competitive activity and still today the only Italian athlete to have risen several times on the podium at the World Championships in athletics.
It is the long jump, as mentioned, the specialty that brought her 15 international medals : the first three with the English National team (gold at the European juniors ’87, gold at the World Juniores ’88 and silver at the Universiade in Sheffield in 1991), the rest with the blue jersey, the last in 2005 with gold at the Mediterranean Games in Almeria .
Four medals won in four outdoor World Championships, but also a gold in the Indoor World Cup in Paris in 1997, a medal that he repeated the following year at the Indoor European Championships in Valencia. Glory also in the Olympics : two precious silvers conquered in Atlanta 1996 and Sidney 2000.
He also holds the Italian record in the long jump which, over the course of his career, he improved seven more times, reaching 7.11 meters which, in the European Championships . in Budapest in 1998 , they earned the silver medal. The toughest challenge of his career:
On the platform there were really all the best, the tension was cut into slices, a problem to concentrate and make the most of your potential. When I made 7.11 I thought I had won; then I jump the Drechsler and arrive at 7.16. Heike was 35 years old: what a great athlete
Born in the United Kingdom of Jamaican parents, Fiona May became an Italian citizen by naturalization after her marriage with the athlete Gianni Iapichino , which took place in 1994. The debut in the Italian national team dates back to the same year in the European Championships in Helsinki, where I win the bronze medal.
A year later, at the Gothenburg World Cup in 1995, here is his first great personal joy: the gold obtained with a jump of 6.98 meters, useful to outpace the Cuban Niurka Montalvo with 6.86 meters, and the Russian Irina Mushailova with 6.83. She is tall, slender and harmonious with very long and sturdy legs, her hands on her hips and a scratched look on her face while she finds concentration by observing the platform: in that moment Italy discovers a new darling .
And he cuddles her enough to push her not to give up and find the strength to go on despite the disappointments of the 1999 World Cup in Seville (silver):
After that World Cup I wanted to stop and I didn’t do it only for all the letters of encouragement I received
He does not give up and shows up in2001 at the World Championships in Edmonton , Canada, after a troubled season with numbers below his standards. But in the end, it was she who rejoiced again : the highest step of the podium with 7.02 meters, followed by the Russian Tatyana Kotova, one centimeter below her, and by Niurka Montalvo with 6.88 meters.
Two girls were born from her relationship with Gianni Iapichino: Larissa in 2002 and Anastasia in 2009 . In recent months, Larissa won the cadet title, at the age of 14, in the 300 meters hurdles at the Italian championships in Cles, in Trentino Alto Adige. The prospects are all there: what to say… when talent is in the family.
I still don’t believe it… Italian champion in the 300 hurdles !!
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ph. recommended by: @ giada.de.martino
A photo posted by Larissa Iapichino
(@larissaiapichino) on Oct 9, 2016 6:26 am PDT
