World Athletics Championships 2025: Air Force Sports Centre athletes take centre stage in Japan

With the final day of competition on Sunday 21 September, the 2025 edition of the Tokyo officially drew to a close World Athletics Championships, which saw the participation of athletes from Italian Air Force Sports Centre, protagonists in various specialities and capable of flying the flag for Italy and the Armed Forces.

Among the most significant results stands outthe bronze medal won by Leading Airman Leonardo Fabbri in the shot put, with a distance of 21.94 metres, behind Olympic champion Ryan Crouser and Mexico's Uziel Muñoz.

Among the other athletes competing:

• Senior Aviator Manuel Lando, engaged in the high jump, who finished his event with a mark of 2.16 metres;
• Leading Aircraftman Alice Muraro, in the 400m hurdles, who set a personal best of 54.36 seconds, the second-fastest time ever by an Italian woman in the event, just 47 hundredths of a second off the Italian record. After reaching the semi-finals, she finished with a time of 54.50 seconds;
• Leading Aircraftwoman Alessia Pavese, in the women's 4×100 relay, which unfortunately went out in the heats along with her teammates due to Vittoria Fontana's injury on the first leg;
• Leading Aircraftwoman Ilaria Accame, a member of the women's 4 × 400 metres relay, who helped the team qualify for the World Cup, but wasn't fielded in the final as she is a substitute;
• Leading Aircraftman Dariya Derkach, in the triple jump, upon returning after a serious injury, who recorded a mark of 13.69 metres in the qualifying round;
• finally, Leading Aircraftman Giovanni Lazzaro, in the 800 metres, who ran his heat in 1:47.00, failing to qualify for the next round.

Participation in the most prestigious international events represents a moment of sporting and personal growth for all the athletes who, with commitment and determination, have embodied the values of discipline, team spirit and dedication to duty inherent to the Italian Air Force. Italy concludes the World Championships in Japan with seven medals: one gold, three silvers and three bronzes. Italian female and male athletes had never won so manyil record previous one was the one established at the World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1995, when, for athletics, six were won (two golds, two silvers and two bronzes). The result of the World Championships confirms once again the importance of the Air Force Sports Centre Military what a talent incubator and solid support structure for Italian sport.

(photo credit: FIDAL)