Larissa Iapichino is considered one of the youngest talent in the world of athletics and sport has been her destiny since childhood.
Her parents are Fiona May, a two-time world champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist in the long jump, and Gianni Iapichino, a former record holder and multiple Italian champions in the pole vault, long jump and decathlon, as well as her coach.
Born in July 2002, she was in the spotlight from an early age, thanks in part to a well-known television commercial. Initially, Larissa didn’t want to pursue athletics, and instead dedicated herself to artistic gymnastics for eight years. The turning point came in 2015 when she attended the Montecarlo meeting live, and she immediately fell in love with athletics.
Larissa’s talent was immediately clear to everyone, as she holds all the indoor and outdoor long jump records in the youth categories.
2019 was the year of her first international success: at just 17 years old, during the 2019 Italian Youth Championships in Agropoli, she recorded a long jump of 6.64 m, a new best Italian performance among the Under-18s. This performance was further cemented 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 m, the fourth fastest junior in the world in her first year in the category.
In 2021, she set the U20 indoor world record with 6.91 m, a historic record that had belonged to Heike Drechsler for 35 years.
In 2023, Larissa won silver at the European Championships in Istanbul with 6.97m, her first overall medal and an all-time Italian Indoor record.
That same season, Larissa became European U23 Champion with 6.93m, won three Diamond League events (Golden Gala in Florence, Stockholm, and Monte Carlo), and also set her personal best outdoors with 6.95m. She then placed fifth at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
In 2024, Larissa Iapichino won silver at the European Championships in Rome with 6.94m and reached her first Olympic final, finishing fourth in Paris. She closed the season on a high note by winning the Diamond League Final in Brussels, becoming the first Italian woman to do so.
In February 2025, Larissa Iapichino was awarded the title of Officer of the Italian Republic by FIDAL President Stefano Mei, a recognition she received thanks to her fourth-place Olympic finish and European silver medal in 2024.
In March 2025, she won gold at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn with a leap of 6.94m, and on May 31, 2025, she cleared the 7-meter barrier with a jump of 7.06m in Palermo.
On July 29, 2025, she won the European Cup in Madrid with a leap of 6.92m, and finally, on August 28, she won her second consecutive trophy at the Diamond League Finals in Zurich.
On July 4, 2026, she set a new Italian record of 7.12 in Eugene at the Prefontaine Classic, one of the most prestigious events on the Diamond League circuit, while onn 16th August she won Gold Medal at the European Champions in Birmingham, first time for Italy in Long Jump.
After being second at the Diamond League Finals in Bruxelles, she added up to her palmares the prestigious trophy of Ultimate Champion in Long Jump on the 11st September. She won in fact in Budapest the elite world championship.
With this result the season outcome is to be the world n.1 ranked long jumper.
