Larissa Iapichino

Biography

Larissa Iapichino is already considered one of the great talents in world athletics, and sports have been part of her destiny since childhood.

Her parents are Fiona May, a two-time world champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist in long jump, and Gianni Iapichino, former Italian record holder and multi-champion in pole vault and decathlon, who is also her coach.

Born in July 2002, she was in the spotlight from an early age, partly due to a well-known television commercial. Initially, Larissa didn’t want to practice athletics, and for 8 years she was dedicated to artistic gymnastics. The turning point came in 2015 when she attended the Monaco meeting live and immediately fell in love with athletics.

Larissa’s talent was immediately clear to everyone, as she holds all indoor and outdoor long jump records in the youth categories.

In 2019, at not yet 17 years old during the Italian youth championships in Agropoli, she recorded a long jump of 6.64 m, a new Italian Under-18 best performance. This was confirmed by her gold medal at the European Under-20 Championships in Boras (Sweden).

In 2020, she set a new U20 and U23 outdoor record of 6.80, becoming the fourth junior of all time in her first year in the category.

In 2021, she claimed the U20 indoor World Record with 6.91m, a historic record that had belonged to Heike Drechslel for 35 years.

In 2023, Larissa won silver at the European Championships in Istanbul with 6.97m, her first absolute medal and an Italian Indoor absolute record.

In the same season, Larissa became European U23 Champion with 6.93m, won three Diamond League stages (Golden Gala in Florence, Stockholm, and Monaco), also setting her outdoor personal record at 6.95m. She then finished fifth at the World Championships in Budapest in 2023.

In 2024, Larissa Iapichino won silver at the European Championships in Rome with 6.94m and secured her first Olympic final, ultimately finishing fourth in Paris. She closed the season brilliantly by winning the Diamond League Final in Brussels, becoming the first Italian woman in history to do so.

In 2025, at the Palaindoor in Padua, she made the best debut ever with a jump of 6.86 mt.

On Sunday, February 23, 2025, Larissa Iapichino was awarded the title of Officer of the Italian Republic by FIDAL president Stefano Mei, a recognition earned thanks to her fourth place in the Olympics and European silver in 2024.

On Saturday, March 8, 2025, she won gold at the indoor European Championships in Apeldoorn with 6.94m, and on May 31, 2025, she broke the 7-meter barrier with a jump of 7.06 in Palermo.

On July 29, 2025, she won the European Cup in Madrid with a jump of 6.92mt and finally conquered her second consecutive trophy at the Diamond League Finals in Zurich on August 28.

Larissa lives in Florence, is passionate about fashion, art, and photography, and attends the Faculty of Law. She is part of the Sports Group of the Italian State Police, Fiamme Oro.

Next events

Technical staff

Coach: Gianni Iapichino
Physioteraphist: Wintecare Performance Division, Dott Eligio Cavalli
Nutritionist: Fabrizio Angelini

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