«So I grew up»- Corriere.it

You get big even like this, staying airborne 90 hundredths of a second to land at 697cm from the abutment axis. Inside that silver jump at the indoor European Championship, new Italian record indoors, the whole world of Larissa Iapichino: «At 18, equaling my mother at 6.91 meters, I was projected into another dimension. Hard to hold. I was so young, I needed space to gain experience in adult athletics. Even my opponents, the champions I beat in Turkey, had told me: don’t worry, Larissa, it’s like that for everyone».

We will remember the beautiful jump in Istanbul on top of an absolute progression as the milestone in the career of this crystalline talent, 21 years old in July, good genes from mom Fiona May (long) and father Gianni Iapichino (rod)who trains her. A lot has changed in the life of the law student in Florence: she went to live alone (under her Gianni and her partner Silvia, who acts as her manager), she cuddled the athletics at her feet, purr.

Larissa, I felt grown up in Istanbul, she said.

«I had the sensation of having changed, yes. On the platform, something exploded inside me: for the first time I only thought about jumping and having fun».

Before, however, where did the head travel?

«I thought more about the judgment of others and external pressures than about myself: I skipped conditioning. The hard work with Marco, my mental coach, slowly made me rediscover the real Larissa, my jumps, my sport».

Yet Fiona, two world gold medals and two European silver medals in the long run, had advised her not to follow in her footsteps.

«Mom is delighted: she spent the first ten minutes of the phone call I made to her after winning the silver medal screaming like crazy…”.

Was she screaming because with the measure of 6.97 she took away the Italian indoor record?

«Nooo, let alone: ​​he keeps repeating to me that records are made to be broken, it’s the medals that last. The important thing is that everything stays in the family! He’s so happy for me.”

Will he be happy even when he surpasses his mother’s 7.11, outdoor record?

“Eh, that’s a lot of stuff. We are talking about an important measure. Wanting is power: the dream exists».

A season of adjustment before the silver jump. What is dad Gianni’s greatest quality as a coach?

«Curiosity, the desire to get involved and play: with him training is never boring. We are careful not to mix roles: on the pitch we are coach and athlete, not father and daughter. Ah, he is also capable of giving me great peace of mind even if he is very agitated during the match ».

What were the steps of the journey up to Istanbul?

«Everything starts from the burning disappointment at the World Cup in Eugene last year: staying out of the final by a few centimetres, after two nils, is my biggest setback so far. That was the first click. From there, I slowly found my way: fifth place at the European Championship in Monaco, the seasonal one in Liechtenstein, at the last race of the season, are small steps that have given me confidence. Baby steps».

This year, therefore, it started again with a different soul.

«In Sabadell I jumped 6.70: it hadn’t happened to me for two years. In Berlin I finished second behind the Olympic champion Mihambo, having a lot of fun: I like competitions where you fight each other».

Does running the 60 meters a couple of times (personal personal time 7”47) come within the perspective of favoring speed?

«Once a week I train with the group of former sprinter Maurizio Checcucci, a Florentine like me. A change of scenery is good for me.”

In the meantime, how has your jump changed?

«With my father we tried to release with the other foot, but there are too many things to think about: the right works well, you don’t change. We reset the run-up, and it took time to find it: now I make more use of the quality of being fast, within faster but in control. This explains the leap in quality. The pre-start is the same: if I start from a standstill I’m less agile. Maybe it’s a male interpretation of the jump, but it works for me. The air phase hasn’t changed.”

Faced the ghosts, did she wake up feeling lighter?

“Freer, yes. I’m no longer a junior who made an absurd measure for her age. I’m grown up now.”

“To Grandpa Winston, Mum’s dad, who just passed away. He leaves a big void. He certainly gave me a hand from up there».