Athletics: Sicily turns blue, Etna's Filippo Randazzo at the indoor World Championships

Sicily is turning blue. Italy is sending its top athletes to the Indoor Athletics World Championships scheduled from 20 to 22 next month in Torun, Poland, and among the 26 selected by the blue coach Antonio La Torre is also the new Italian champion in the 60 (10th national title after the 9 won in long jump), the Etnean Filippo Randazzo  Gs Fiamme Gialle) who will be alongside other blue stars, including Mattia Furlani (long jump), Nadia Battocletti (3000), Andy Diaz (triple jump), Leonardo Fabbri (shot put), Zaynab Dosso (60), Larissa Iapichino (long jump) and (in the photo).

The Etnean Filippo Randazzo (Gs Fiamme Oro)

Carmelo Giarrizzo and Filippo Randazzo

Filippo Randazzo from San Cono, after winning nine titles in long jump with coach Carmelo Giarrizzo, who raised him and launched him at Pro Sport Valguarnera, has triumphed for the first time as a sprinter, after the decision made in 2024 to leave jumping and move to Catania with Prof. Filippo Di Mulo, responsible for blue sprinting. After already participating in the 4x100 relay, this individual selection alongside another sprinter Samuele Ceccarelli aims to advance as far as possible in the 60-meter heats, where this year in Paris he achieved a personal best with a remarkable 6”59.

Prof. Filippo Di Mulo, from Catania, responsible for blue sprinting

WORDS FROM COACH FILIPPO DI MULO

Here are the words of Prof. Filippo Di Mulo after Randazzo's blue call-up: "Filippo has made sense of his decision (forced by injuries) to switch from long-distance to sprinting. His was not an easy or obvious path, the disciplines are very different from each other, one thing is to jump after a run of 18-20 steps and another is to run, reaction to the gun out of the blocks, acceleration, and a launched run that extends for 60 meters or even better for 100 meters. In these months of work, we have tried to channel his undeniable qualities into sprinting and this result tells us that the choice was not wrong, this is the first step, the result is good but it will still require a lot of work to transform Filippo into a sprinter but I am very confident. In the 100 meters, he can express his talent better and can achieve great satisfaction, patience is needed. In the meantime, we enjoy this moment, participating in an indoor world championship with the standard is a great satisfaction, now everything that comes will be all a gain."

The two long-distance runners from Modica, Carmelo Cannizzaro and Giuseppe Gerratana

IN BLUE, THE MODICANI CANNIZZARO AND GERRATANA

And Sicily turns blue in long-distance running thanks to the two talented Modicani: Carmelo Cannizzaro and Giuseppe Gerratana, among the best long-distance runners on the international scene. Carmelo Cannizzaro, raised at Running Modica with Prof. Salvo Pisana, after four years in the United States, this year moved to Varese where he continues his studies and trains with the group of blue long-distance runners followed by Silvio Danzi, on Saturday he will wear blue at the World University Cross Country Championships scheduled in Cassino.

Carmelo Cannizzaro (Aden Exprivia Molfetta) in action in the cross

Carmelo Cannizzaro who this year defends the colors of Aden Exprivia Molfetta, arrives at the world championship after a good season in cross country and a stunning performance in the 3000 meters indoor run in 8'05"28.

Giuseppe Gerratana, who also started from Running Modica with Salvo Pisana, an athlete from Cs Aeronautica where he trains with coach Liberato Pellecchia, has just come off a winter season on the road where he dominated the scene on several occasions: his latest success last Sunday at the Talent Run in Rome over 10 km, and he has been called up for the Military Half Marathon World Championships scheduled for April in Turkey.

Giuseppe Gerratana (Cs Aeronautica) victorious last Sunday at the Talenti Run in Rome