Italy’s Andrew Howe fulfilled everybody’s expectations as he set a new Championships record to win the men’s 200 metres Final.
This was the race that the crowd in the Grossetto stadium had been waiting for. Two days ago, Howe had the stadium crowd roaring when he won the Long Jump competition and today he followed that up with a magnificent performance over half a lap of the track, simply wiping out the competition as he recorded a massive personal best, destroying the old Championships record of 20.44.
That was also the PB of the fastest man in the field this afternoon, Leigh Julius of South Africa, who was alongside Howe in the blocks in lane six, but whereas the South African was unable to match his personal record, Howe running in lane 5 demolished his own.
The Italian came up fast out of the blocks and as the field entered the home straight he powered away leaving Julius and Trinidad's Jamil James struggling in his wake, to the roars of the crowd in the stadium.
He crossed the line in 20.28 seconds, with Julius next across in 20.88 and James picking up the bronze with 21.00.
Just 24 hours earlier, Howe had run a PB and Italian National Junior Record of 20.72, another 24 hours after his victory in the Long Jump, he leaves the stadium this evening with a new limit to pass.
