Samuele Ceccarelli's victory is a remarkable achievement for the young Italian athlete, who had a previous personal best of 6.72 seconds dating back to 2019.
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The 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul saw a major upset in the men’s 60m event, as Italian sprinter Samuele Ceccarelli claimed the gold medal, beating Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs and a strong field of competitors. Ceccarelli, a 23-year-old relatively unknown in the international athletics scene, surprised many observers when he won the Italian 60m title two weeks ago, defeating Jacobs in the process. However, few could have predicted the scale of his triumph in Istanbul, where he set a new personal best of 6.48 seconds to win the European indoor 60m crown and lead an Italian 1-2 with Jacobs coming in second place with a season’s best of 6.50 seconds. Sweden’s Henrik Larsson claimed the bronze medal in a national record time of 6.53 seconds, edging out Poland’s Dominik Kopec, who also clocked 6.53 seconds in fourth place, by the narrowest of margins. Slovakia’s Jan Volko finished in fifth place with a time of 6.57 seconds.
Ceccarelli’s victory is a remarkable achievement for the young Italian athlete, who had a previous personal best of 6.72 seconds dating back to 2019. He has enjoyed a superb indoor season, consistently improving his times and setting a European lead of 6.47 seconds in the semifinals before winning the final in an even faster time. Speaking after the race, Ceccarelli expressed his delight at winning the European indoor 60m crown and becoming a senior Italian national team member for the first time.
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“To become the European champion – that sounds great and I am over the moon because it is the first time in the Italian senior team, my first time competing at such championships, and the first win. So I could not be more happy than this,” he said. As the indoor season comes to an end, many will be eager to see what Ceccarelli can achieve in the upcoming outdoor season and whether he can continue to build on his success in Istanbul. One thing is for certain, however – he has firmly placed himself on the athletics map and will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
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Meanwhile, Marcell Jacobs, who had hoped to defend his European indoor 60m title after winning it in 2021, expressed his disappointment at not winning the gold medal but praised Ceccarelli for his achievement. “This is not the medal that I wanted, I obviously wanted the gold. My leg wasn’t the best today, it was really tough today. My teammate did great. I am the captain of the Italian national team and I am satisfied with medals we brought to the team. Now is the end of the indoor season so my focus is on the outdoor,” he said. Despite his disappointment, Jacobs congratulated Ceccarelli and spoke highly of his fellow Italian athlete. “He was happy for me and said a few words in the finish. We keep the gold medal at home in Italy, so he was happy for me. He is like my big brother,” said Ceccarelli.
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