Larissa jumps into the future: "In Paris it went badly, but I recharged my batteries"

Florence, 21 August 2024 – Two weeks away from the final of the Games, Larissa Iapichino (who flagellated himself on live TV in the heat of the moment) is more serene in examining that cold fourth place in the long jump at age 22 in his first Olympics: "My reaction was immediate, it's not easy to manage emotions, then I'm very self-critical, I let myself be overwhelmed by emotions." Now, the Fiamme Oro athlete will take a short break by skipping the Golden Gala, but in September she will be at the final of Diamond League.

Has she made peace with herself for that 6,87 and fourth place?

"Yes, it took a few days to see it for what it was and that in the end it was a very respectable performance. Then it is clear that each of us has expectations, ambitions, even dreams that we would like to realize ".

What didn't go to Paris?

"I wasn't able to light the fuse, the fire that usually characterizes my performances in the race."

In the most important race...

"These things happen and I am aware that it can happen that we find ourselves in this situation. But we always hope that it won't be in the Olympic final."

Yet that 6,87 in qualifying gave us hope...

"In fact, especially taking into account that the qualification took place in the morning when I struggle to get fuel. When I saw that I had done 6,60 off the platform and then 6,87 taking the board I thought: I'm really there, I'm fine. I felt solid, confident. I went calmly, always relatively because it's still an Olympic final, but then there was a decline, so to speak, in the final."

Did you feel any pressure due to the expectations that had arisen around you? Did she suffer from it?

"Not from the press, from the Federation or from the environment. But I am a very sensitive person, as much as I try to make myself impervious to certain things I don't always succeed."

Did the comments on social media hurt you?

"Yes, even if I go and see the comments, I don't go and see them. When I see them it's by chance." Those who say she's not Italian, the racist ones?

"I don't take those into consideration, my Italianness is an objective fact."

By the way, what do you think of the Ius Scholae?

"A good idea to take a step forward in many situations."

What hurt you about social media?

"There are dynamics, maybe it's social media, maybe it's not social media, that honestly I suffer a little more because they affect things about me."

Don't you just put a little pressure on yourself?

"Probably yes. I'm a person who puts a lot of pressure on myself, even on my own. I'm very good at putting things in my way. And in fact it's something I have to work on."

Are you thinking about the next Olympics?

"Of course, but it will be in 4 years and there are many other events in between."

Do you always enjoy athletics?

"Yes, I have always loved her and will continue to do so."