Triveneto Meeting: Stefano Sottile on stage in Trieste on Saturday, July 26th

A significant touch of blue colors the 18th edition of the "Triveneto Meeting Internazionale." On Saturday, July 26, Stefano Sottile (Fiamme Azzurre) will compete in the high jump on the Cologna di Trieste track. He is one of Italy's top high jumpers, having achieved fourth place at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a jump of 2.34, a personal best and the second-highest Italian high jump of all time. The 27-year-old from Borgosesia, a new father, will enhance the competition roster, which also features two other Italian athletes: Federico Celebrin (Trevisatletica), an Italian under-23, and Eugenio Meloni (Carabinieri), who competed for Italy at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn last March.

ANTICIPATED. There's a lot of excitement on the high jump runway at the meeting, organized by Polisportiva Triveneto Trieste, which is part of the Challenger series of the Continental Tour of World Athletics, the international athletics federation. Sottile, who jumped 2.31m in the 2025 indoor season, has been training regularly for a month after an injury. He's doing well, and the Italian Championships in Caorle are on the horizon, on Saturday, August 2nd and Sunday, August 3rd. The Venezia Giulia race will be "a test for him before the Italian Championships," explains his coach, Valeria Musso. "Stefano is really eager to get on the runway. The ultimate goal remains the World Championships in Tokyo in September." Sottile, who jumped 2.20m outdoors this year, will thus finalize the final details before the Italian Championships. In Venice, in addition to finding good sensations, he will want to defend the title he won in 2024 in La Spezia with a season-best of 2.30, a prelude to the great result at the Paris Games.

CHE 800. A spectacular double lap of the track will feature both national team athletes and international middle-distance runners. The starting lineup includes reigning Italian champion and Paris semifinalist Simone Barontini (Fiamme Azzurre), Giovanni Lazzaro (Aeronautica), the Italian Under-23 national athlete and Italian champion at the European Championships and the World Indoor Championships, and Amel Tuka, the Bosnian silver medalist in Doha in 2019. The goal is to stage a race that will yield a strong time. In the 100m hurdles, in addition to Trieste's Nicla Mosetti (Nissolino Sport), Veronica Besana (Fiamme Gialle) will be starting, having recently clocked a season-best time of 13.01 at the Brescia Grand Prix. In the women's 100 meters, Army athletes Irene Siragusa and Giorgia Bellinazzi will compete alongside Chiara Melon (Fiamme Azzurre) and Chiara Goffi (Atletica Chiari, who dropped to 11.56 this year). The top two names will also be in the men's pole vault, with American Carson Cody Waters (a personal best of 5.72) competing against Italian Federico Biancoli (Riccardi Milano), the reigning national champion with a best of 5.35.

THE CONFERENCE. Details of the "Triveneto Meeting Internazionale" will be revealed on Friday, July 25, at 12:00 p.m., at the press conference presenting the event, which will be held in the Trieste City Council Chamber. It's worth noting that there will be five events: for men, the 800 meters, pole vault, and high jump; for women, the 100 meters and 100-meter hurdles. There will also be competitions for the youth categories (under 10, 12, 14, and 16), masters, and Paralympic athletes. The event, organized with the support of the Municipality of Trieste and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, is also part of the High Speed League circuit, which includes the collaboration of Queen Atletica. The events scheduled are the 100, 200, and 400 meters for men and women, and the 100-meter hurdles for women.

TIMES. The meeting will begin at 3:00 PM with the 60-meter dash reserved for Paralympic athletes. The main event will take place between 5:40 PM and 7:10 PM with the invitational events. The grand finale will be the High Speed League races. The meeting will close at 8:30 PM.

Attached photo of Sottile (Grana/Fidal) at the Paris Games.