At the age of 18, Arisa Yafikino became the world champion in long jump when she hovered to a distance of 6.91 meters • Now she also wants to take off in the European Indoor Championships, which opens at the weekend
Larissa Yafikino is hovering.
A bright future awaits her
Photo:
GettyImages
About two weeks ago, on February 21, 2021, Larissa Japikino set out for her fifth jump in the final of the Italian Under-20 Championship held in Ancona.
With 6.75 meters in balance her victory was already guaranteed, but the fifth jump made it sensational.
As soon as she landed on the sand, the Italian realized that she had done something special here.
The electronic board only confirmed this.
6.91 meters made her the world champion until the age of 20 and 217 days, when she improved by three centimeters the record of the German Heike Dreschler from 1988.
It was also the result of the year in the world and a result that is of course worth an Olympic criterion, but most importantly - it was the same result as the Italian record for seniors in the long jump in the hall.
This is important, because this record was set in 1998 by the legendary Fiona May, and he awarded her the title of European Hall Champion.
Mae, a native of Britain who represented Italy, is a three-time world champion, two-time Olympic silver medalist and also the proud mother of Larissa Japikino.
"There's no way I'll avoid talking about her," the girl said in an interview with Gazzetta, "whenever I compete she is very tense, jumping and shouting in the stands, and sometimes I can't stand her."
When she does suffer, Larissa listens to any advice and often consults with her mother.
However, after a few views on YouTube, the girl realized that she had received her mother's genes, but not all of them.
"We have a completely different style," she stated, "I understand the need of people for comparisons, but we are different women competing in different periods."
"Never stop"
So if Larissa is not really like Mom, maybe she's like Dad.
Gianni Japikino was also a great athlete - seven-time Italian pole vault champion and once European runner-up - and he too has influenced the talented girl's career.
The two parents decided together that their resume was not enough to direct the girl to the jumping pit, so they named her after Larissa Breznaya - the Ukrainian former jumper who won the European Championship and World Championship.
It is surprising, then, to find that as a child Larissa focused on gymnastics, until at the age of 13 she saw Ganzaba Dibaba smash a world record in the 1,500 meters.
"It was love at first sight," she told the Olympic website, "then, as soon as I entered the stadium for the first time I realized a language I feel at home."
Larissa and her mother, Fiona May. Fine genetics // Photo: GettyImages
At first she tried hurdles, but very quickly realized she was born to jump - just like Mom and Dad.
In 2019, she broke her personal record four times at the Italian Youth Championships and achieved better results than her mother Fiona at a young age.
A few months later she won the European Under-20 Championship in Sweden even though she was the youngest, and in 2020 she jumped her personal best to 6.80 meters, even though she felt "the jump was bad".
At this point, more or less, Larissa began to mark her mother's records as a goal.
Two weeks ago she equaled it in the hall when she set 6.91 meters, and now she is staring at the peak in the stadium: 7.11 meters.
"Records are meant to be broken, and my mother encourages me to do so," she said.
Larissa has all the tools to become the new star of the world of athletics at the European Championships in Poland.
Beyond its formidable capabilities, it has an impressive pedigree, extensive social networks, abundant star qualities and great ambitions.
"I always want to get the most out of it, that's how it has been since I was a child," she says, "my mentality is to never stop. Always look beyond what I have achieved."
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