World record holder and 2020 Olympic Champion Massimo Stano headlines a 25-deep Italian team heading to the Brazilian capital for the racewalk World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships.
He will be making his debut in the new marathon distance having won Olympic and world gold over 20km and 35km respectively before setting the 35km world record last year.
Joining him is Italy’s newest world record holder, Francesco Fortunato, who broke the indoor record in February this year over 5000m.
Fortunato is also a European 20km bronze medallist and will be racing in the half marathon after winning the relay at the previous edition of these championships in Antalya.
2019 world 50k bronze medalist Eleonora Giorgi will be racing in the marathon alongside Federica Curiazzi. Recently crowned Italian champions Riccardo Orsoni , Andrea Agrusti and Sofia Fiorini will all also be travelling to Brasilia.
While the U20 team will be competing in the 10km, with European U18 champions Alessio Coppola and Serena Di Fabio leading the team with European U18 bronze medallist, Nicolo’ Vidal, also joining the line up.