A great year for Ceccarelli Athletics star “Fame? I’m handling it well”

A new star has been born in the constellation and it has done so in just a few months. Samuele Ceccarelli from Massa with a stratospheric start to the year has become the king of indoor speed not only in boots, but in the entire ancient continent, quickly winning the Italian and European 60m indoor titles. Now there is a great logic of curiosity for the start of his off-season. The first match is already scheduled for next June 2 in Florence at the “Golden Gala Pietro Mennea”. Among other things, Ceccarelli was one of the main characters present at the press conference held recently in Palazzo Vecchio.

“I am happy because already participating in the competition of the level of the Olympic final is a big thing and competing against such champions will be more – explained the “golden boy” from Massa -. It will be a way to put. I myself for the test and I am serious very much. I chose this date for my first game because I did local training until the middle of March and there was a delay in preparation. Then it will be good to run in my club’s stadium “.

Waiting for Samuele is a more difficult distance, especially the 100 meters, where his potential is still undiscovered. “Preparations with my coach Marco Del Medico are going well. The work has not changed much because it has worked well so far and big changes were not needed. The only big difference is that the distance of the return has increased. Personally “I believe in myself and I think something good can emerge. Based on this first step, we will define other commitments of the season. World Cup? At the moment they are far away because the minimum to go there is to score 10 nets, considering that in the history of Italy only two athletes have done that, and only one to continue. So it is very necessary. The alternative is to do series of valuable races to qualify through the ranking. . I am starting the 100m with a best time of 10.45 to be held in 2021 in poor health and will certainly be improved based on the best work done in the 60m. I do not know, however, how many hours it may be worth. I’m approaching it like I did with the 60 and let’s see what happens.”

So let’s rewind the tape and return to the blessed 60 meters. Ceccarelli’s incredible 2023 began in early January with a 6.61 in Ancona that catapulted him into the headlines as the best time of the year. It was only the first step of an unimaginable increase. In fact, Samuele won the international meet in Barcelona and shortly after in Istaf Indoor in Berlin he did better, dropping to 6.58. Only Great Britain’s Reece Prescod was ahead of him at the Mercedes Benz Stadium with a best car of 6.49.

But the best was yet to come. So here we are again in the middle of February in Ancona for the Italian championship where Samuele surprised everyone by beating the holy beast Marcell Jacobs with 6.54 which represented the third Italian time ever. Appetite, as we know, comes with eating and Ceccarelli was not satisfied with this first “push” given to his sculpture. He got back in front of the European Championships in Istanbul in March and still dropped a lot.

“Jet delle Apuane” won the continental title with a 6.47, the second best Italian time trial of all time. The sudden transition from the “revelation” to the “phenomenon” of the sport of the year was a logical result for the twenty-three-year-old in the Atletica Firenze Marathon who found himself in charge of great fame “I live well – he explains – Every so often someone almost stops me and asking me two things, a photo or an autograph. It’s a kind of recognition and I’m happy. At the moment I’m getting used to it”. An athlete who has shown how passion and talent must go hand in hand with determination and a desire to question yourself, a hard work that starts from the bottom up and that ultimately returns good results. An example for the younger generations who are approaching this sport: without patience you can’t go anywhere.

Gianluca Bondielli