European Championships long jump: Italy's Iapichino wins as top three separated by just two centimetres
At the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, Italy's Larissa Iapichino won the women's long jump final by a razor-thin margin, ahead of home favourite Jazmin Sawyers and France's Hilary Kpatcha.
The women's long jump final at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, Great Britain, produced an extremely tight contest for the medal positions, with only about two centimetres separating the top three athletes.
Gold went to Italy's Larissa Iapichino, whose best attempt of 7.00 metres came in her very first jump. This marks her first title at a season's major championship, even though she had already won the Diamond League overall standings in the previous two seasons.
Home favourite Jazmin Sawyers of Great Britain took second place with 6.99 metres, while France's Hilary Kpatcha finished third with a best jump of 6.98 metres. Portugal's Agate de Sousa placed fourth with 6.96 metres, and Germany's Malaika Mihambo finished fifth with 6.94 metres.
The top ten also included Spain's Fatima Diame, Sweden's Maja Åskog, Cyprus's Filippa Fotopoulou, Britain's Mollie Palmer and Romania's Ramona Elena Verman. A total of 12 athletes competed in the final, with many posting season-best results separated by very narrow margins, underscoring the high level of competition in European women's long jump at the moment.
