Lalli-show: at center Budapest 2012, left San Giorgio 2006, right Bruxelles 2008 (Colombo/FIDAL)

Lalli’s three victories, no one like him

No one like him in cross country. He is the first Italian to have won an individual title at the European Championships. But also, the first ever, and so far the only one, to become champion in all categories: under 20, under 23 and senior. The king of the cross country is Andrea Lalli, protagonist of an original and unmatched hat-trick. More than any other he found his maximum expression on the grass, with an effective and unmistakable style: agile feet and powerful legs, combined with courage and determination. When he was in best conditions, the opponents could only compete for second place, so overwhelming was the superiority of the red hair athlete from Molise. Three times gold medallist after having escaped from afar as in the triumph as a junior in 2006 in San Giorgio su Legnano, with a persistent progression two years later in Brussels, or even from very far away on the day of the consecration, on the snow of Budapest in 2012 in a fairy-tale atmosphere, gaining success at senior level. The first Italian to succeed, and also in this case the only one, always so far. The man of the three crowns.

2006 - Two victories in one fell swoop. The golden wedding anniversary of the legendary Campaccio to be celebrated with a double gold for the under 20 Italian team: the spell of the missing individual title is broken, but the team is also on the top step of the podium. What a celebration in San Giorgio su Legnano, in a cross country temple and on a sunny morning. The plan was to wait until halfway through the race, then try to take the initiative on the mud due to the rain that had fallen in the previous days. Andrea Lalli didn't follow it, simply because he was too good: immediately in command, he launched the attack after just over a kilometer, set a frantic pace and increased the gap in the second of the three laps. It created a vacuum, apparently cocky but very lucid, in full thrust. A show: he incited the public, exalting himself and closed with ten seconds on who was chasing, the Belarusian Chebiarak and the Romanian Suhanea. The redemption one year after the failure of Tilburg, where he arrived twelfth held back by a muscle problem, for a domain planned in detail, with a victorious test at the Soria Spanish cross country in the preparation way. And that's just the beginning.

2008 - The second win was even easier than expected. So said Lalli after crossing the finishing line in Brussels, where he crushes the resistance of his rivals among the under 23s in practice without even attacking: he didn't change pace, but they gave way one after the other. Yet there is no shortage of pretenders in the fraying group: the British Vernon, bronze the year before in the Toro cross country with the italian athlete in fourth place, the French junior champion Amdouni. The last to give up in the uphill section of the second to last lap was the Turkish Bayrak, a man of 27:29 over 10,000 meters, eleventh at the Beijing Olympics. From there on it was another solo, a new ride to gold. The Italian won again by lead, there is no need to wait for the sprint which is his weakness, but the real race ended at the sound of the bell. He had plenty of time to cheer with his finger raised before entering the straight at Park van Laken, in front of the Atomium, and throwed kisses to the audience. He did it again, after three months of preparation all dedicated to cross country, with Vernon eight seconds behind and an exhausted Bayrak who kept the bronze finishing walking. And it was silver medal for the Italian team, driven by its leader who then seeks glory on the track too, second in the 10,000m at the U23 European Championships the following season. But cross country is his favorite specialty that will give him the greatest joy.

2012 - Cold, frost and white lawns in Szentendre, nearby Budapest, but enthusiasm is ignited for the formidable excessive power of an Italian athlete, indeed the Italian athlete par excellence in cross country. The Andrea Lalli’s day, unreachable and uncatchable. He spined his legs like no other on an all-snowed trail and outdistanced the others after a couple of kilometres. The French Hassan Chahdi tried to keep up with him and he took the lead but the Fiamme Gialle athlete, who was competing after a stage in Kenya and without any approach races, followed in his footsteps with his composed movement, in control. At the fourth kilometer he left the other athletes behind with an impressive ease of running. The advantage was enormous, twenty seconds at the start of the last lap. And once again he raised his arms prematurely, and lingered to better enjoy those happy moments. An authority never seen at European cross-country Championships. Daniele Meucci fell in the middle of the race, returned to the group and took a wonderful bronze medal. Two athletes on the individual podium, for the first time, and the medals are three in total, with the bronze team one. Then new opportunities opened up for Lalli, with road competitions, even if the aimed results did not arrive from the marathon (a personal best of 2h12:48 in Turin in 2014) due to injuries. But a place in history belongs to him.