Italian athletics star Larissa Iapichino took the Italian long jump record that had stood for 28 years with a magnificent performance at the Diamond League Eugene (Oregon) stage. The 24-year-old athlete from Florence managed to surpass the historic record belonging to her mother, Fiona May, by just one centimetre with a jump of 7.12 metres. This unique achievement went down in history as one of the most beautiful proofs of the incredible generational change and transfer of talent between mother and daughter in the athletics world. After breaking the record, Iapichino shared with great sincerity the immense excitement she experienced and the details of her first phone call with her mother.
The legendary athlete and record holder Fiona May had written her name in golden letters in Italian athletics history with a 7.11-metre jump achieved in Budapest on 22 August 1998. Mother May, a two-time world champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist, had almost made a prophecy years ago, predicting that her daughter would break her record. Larissa emphasized the healthy competition and loving bond between them, stating that her mother was eager to pass on this record and was extremely happy that her own mark had been surpassed. The young Italian athlete stated that she felt overly emotional about this success, as it represents a spiritual passing of the baton from a mother to her daughter, in addition to its immense technical importance.
The biggest supporter of Larissa in this peak career achievement was her father, Gianni Iapichino, who is also her coach. Father Gianni, a former national pole vault athlete, acted extremely calmly during the competition, giving his daughter the necessary directions, and was the first to realize the jump was valid. Larissa stated that her father was filled with great joy upon seeing the result immediately after the jump, and that they had been working together for years to achieve jumps at this level. The young athlete added that although long jump is a challenging discipline with many variables, her father always believed she could reach these levels, and that this trust formed the foundation of her success.
Larissa Iapichino's 7.12-metre performance in Eugene stands as the best performance recorded in Europe this season. Globally, only American rival Tara Davis-Woodhall's 7.20-metre jump ranks above the Italian athlete's success. This result stands out as the young athlete's second personal best in her career; previously, she had drawn attention with a 7.06-metre jump in Palermo on 31 May 2025. The athlete's tremendous rise in form has created an incredible source of self-confidence for the Italian delegation ahead of the Birmingham European Championships, which will begin in the United Kingdom in August.
Preparing for the European Championships in the strongest way possible in terms of morale and motivation, Iapichino did not hide the fact that her goals are very clear and that she is focused on the gold medal at the championship. However, she noted that she does not overlook the fact that in championships, the race performance on that given day is always more decisive than the marks, and that her rivals are also extremely ambitious. When asked about the ultimate goal of her career, she stated that she has already set her eyes on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and that she will progress step by step on the path to this big dream. The athletics world awaits with great curiosity the many more historic moments that Larissa Iapichino, who has inherited the legacy of her mother Fiona May and is shaped by her father's technical vision, will sign in her future sports journey.
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