Notturna di Milano (English: Night in Milan) is an annual track and field meeting which is held in September at the Arena Civica in Milan, Italy. First held in 1998, the meeting received IAAF permit meeting status the following year.[1] In its earlier years, men's sprinting was one of the primary attractions of the meeting, with former world record holders Donovan Bailey and Tim Montgomery among those competing.[2]

Notturna di Milano
The facade of the Arena Civica, the host stadium
DateSeptember
LocationMilan, Italy Italy
Event typeTrack and field
Established1998
Official siteNotturna di Milano

The third edition of the meeting attracted many prominent athletes including Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie and World Champion sprinter Dennis Mitchell (world record holder Maurice Greene was also set to compete but withdrew due to illness). Home athlete Fabrizio Donato set a historic national record of 17.60 m in the triple jump (an improvement of Paolo Camossi's mark by almost a third of a metre).[3] That same year, the meeting also had a failed drugs test – Mihaela Melinte, the world record holder in the women's hammer throw and favourite for the Olympic title that year, was banned for two years for taking nandrolone.[4] The 2002 meeting attracted numerous Olympic and World medallists.[5]

The event was cancelled in 2006 and the Milan venue was the setting for the 2007 European Cup instead.[6] The meeting returned to the European athletics calendar in 2008 and was highlighted by performances from Italians Elisa Cusma and Antonietta Di Martino, and also a national record run by Bahraini sprinter Roqaya Al-Gassra.[7] The competition gained European Athletics meeting permit status in 2009. That year's events were dedicated to the memory of Candido Cannavò (former editor of Gazzetta dello Sport) who had played an integral part in the inception of the meeting. The meeting organisers also allocated the profits of the ticket sales towards those affected by the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake.[8]

Emerging French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre was one of the prime attractions of the 2010 (given his North Italian heritage) and reigning World Champion Caster Semenya improved the 800 metres meeting record. In addition to the competitive action, Stefano Baldini – the 2004 Olympic marathon champion – was presented with the Candido Cannavò Award for his athletics achievements.[9]

World records edit

Over the course of its history, two world records have been set at the Notturna di Milano.

Year Event Record Athlete Nationality
1973, 27 June 800 m 1:43.7 (ht) Marcello Fiasconaro   Italy
1939, July 800 m 1:46.6 (ht) Rudolf Harbig   German Reich

Meeting records edit

Men edit

Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Ref Video
100 m 10.08 Bernard Williams   United States
200 m 20.30 (+0.5 m/s) Andrew Howe   Italy 9 September 2010 [10] [1]
400 m 44.83 Leonard Byrd   United States
800 m 1:43.50 Mohammed Aman   Ethiopia 18 September 2011 [11][12] [2]
1500 m 3:31.34 Hicham El Guerrouj   Morocco
3000 m 7:41.30 Augustine Choge   Kenya 18 September 2011 [11][13] [3]
5000 m 12:52.53 Salah Hissou   Morocco
3000 m steeplechase 8:11.31 Stephen Cherono   Qatar
110 m hurdles 13.18 Colin Jackson   Great Britain
400 m hurdles 48.22 Chris Rawlinson   Great Britain
High jump 2.28 m Aleksandr Shustov   Russia
Pole vault 5.70 m Rens Blom   Netherlands
Triple jump 17.67 (+3.1 m/s) Jonathan Edwards   Great Britain
Shot put 20.37 m Yuriy Bilonoh   Ukraine
Discus throw 67.13 m Virgilijus Alekna   Lithuania
Hammer throw 80.38 m Nicola Vizzoni   Italy
Javelin throw 80.84 m Vítězslav Veselý   Czech Republic 18 September 2011
5000 m walk (track) 18:38.45 Ivano Brugnetti   Italy
4 × 100 m relay 38.69 Francesco Scuderi
Alessandro Cavallaro
Maurizio Checcucci
Andrea Colombo
  Italy

Women edit

Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Ref Video
100 m 11.12 Roqaya Al-Gassra   Bahrain
200 m 22.63 Debbie Ferguson   Bahamas
400 m 50.44 Katharine Merry   Great Britain
800 m 1:58.16 Caster Semenya   South Africa 9 September 2010 [10] [4]
1500 m 4:04.01 Nancy Langat   Kenya
5000 m 14:36.92 Berhane Adere   Ethiopia
100 m hurdles 12.79 Nevin Yanıt   Turkey
400 m hurdles 54.51 Nezha Bidouane   Morocco
2000 m steeplechase 6:04.46 Dorcus Inzikuru   Uganda
3000 m steeplechase 9:22.29 Justyna Bąk   Poland
High jump 2.01 m Monica Iagăr   Romania
Pole vault 4.61 m Svetlana Feofanova   Russia
Long jump 7.07 m Fiona May   Italy
Triple jump 14.34 m Fiona May   Italy
Shot put 20.02 m Vita Pavlysh   Ukraine
Discus throw 65.94 m Natalya Sadova   Russia
Hammer throw 72.54 m Mihaela Melinte   Romania
2000 m walk (track) 7:56.58 Panforova   Russia
3000 m walk (track) 11:57.80 Erica Alfridi   Italy
4 × 100 m relay ? Francesca Cola
Daniela Graglia
Manuela Grillo
Manuela Levorato
  Italy

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ 42 outdoor Meetings in 1999 IAAF Calendar - All Golden League Meets on a Wednesday. IAAF (1998-10-29). Retrieved on 2010-09-10.
  2. ^ Fiona May and Tim Montgomery to highlight the Notturna di Milano. IAAF (2003-05-28). Retrieved on 2010-09-10.
  3. ^ Gebreselassie eases back into competition. IAAF (2000-06-07). Retrieved on 2010-09-10.
  4. ^ Melinte suspended for two years for a doping offence. IAAF (2001-07-17). Retrieved on 2010-09-10.
  5. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2002-05-31). Bekele sets 13 minutes in his sights. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-10.
  6. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2008-07-01). Lebedeva the standout attraction in Milan made a return in 2008. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-10.
  7. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2008-03-07). Al-Gassra, Di Martino provide the highlights in Milan. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-10.
  8. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2009-06-26). Kipchoge charges to 12:56.46 world lead in Milan. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-10.
  9. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2010-09-10). Howe, Semenya, and Yenew highlight in Milan. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-10.
  10. ^ a b Diego Sampaolo (2010-09-10). "Howe, Semenya, and Yenew highlight in Milan". IAAF. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  11. ^ a b "Teenager Aman ends Rudisha's win streak in rainy Milan". IAAF. 18 September 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  12. ^ "800 Metres Results" (PDF). www.dbresults.net. 18 September 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  13. ^ "3000 Metres Results" (PDF). www.dbresults.net. 18 September 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.

External links edit