From time to time we too of Marcia dal Mondo have always been very critical with the movement of the race walk in Italy, we have to change our mind and look positively.
It should happen next Saturday when the Italian U18 Championships will take place in Ancona (ITA).
The list of members is large and interesting with as many as 63 athletes: 29 girls and 34 boys.
At the moment we do not know if the technical delegate of the event will decide to play two timed sessions in both races, but if the athletes were all presented at the start this should be the best solution.
Some Countries have already competed for the National Indoor Championship and the following table shows the world performances for the 2018/2019 season.
World list U18 boys up today
| | MARK | COMPETITOR | DOB | NAT | VENUE | DATE |
| | | | | | | |
| 1 | 21:14.85 | Mustafa TEKDAL | 08 AUG 2002 |  TUR | Istanbul (TUR) | 13 JAN 2019 |
| 2 | 22:04.10 | Matteo DUC | 25 MAR 2001 |  FRA | Lyon (FRA) | 01 DEC 2018 |
| 3 | 22:30.97 | Dimitri DURAND | 2002 | FRA | Eaubonne (FRA) | 08 DEC 2018 |
| 4 | 22:33.17 | Hamza BAYRAKTAR | 2003 | TUR | Istanbul (TUR) | 13 JAN 2019 |
| 5 | 22:35.80 | Taras KORETSKYY | 2002 |  UKR | Sumy (UKR) | 28 JAN 2019 |
| 6 | 22:43.61 | Pavlo SUSLOV | 13 JUL 2002 | UKR | Kiev (UKR) | 22 DEC 2018 |
| 7 | 22:52.77 | Florian PETER | 19 AUG 2002 | FRA | Aubiére (FRA) | 16 DEC 2018 |
| 8 | 22:57.30 | Pedro DIAS | 21 FEB 2003 |  POR | Pombal (POR) | 19 JAN 2019 |
| 9 | 22:58.02 | Mykola RUSHCHAK | 30 OCT 2003 | UKR | Sumy (UKR) | 28 JAN 2019 |
World list U18 girls up today
If the smile was back on the lips seeing so many athletes entered, some doubt assails us about the difference in technical value.
In men the three best Italians have entry marks that are around 22:00.00.
The only Emiliano Brigante boasts a 21:49.86 on 5.000m track, but he suffered in the last two important races in which he participated two heavy disqualifications, the last of which by an international jury to Gioiosa Marea.
The technical involution suffered by this young athlete who from the U16 was more than very fast, even acceptable from the point of view of the rule, today represents the greatest obstacle to overcome. Probably his height development has yet to be compensated with an equally muscular development with the dorsal and spinal musculature so that its posture allows it to have that movement of the hips that by U16 could do much better.
Among other things, we do not even know if he will present himself at the start.
The other two Daniele Breda and Gabriele Gamba, in the event of a victory in a very fast race, could also jump to the top positions of the U18 world list, but will hardly succeed in removing from the first potion Mustafa Tekdal (TUR) that in Istanbul on Jan. 13, 2019 he stopped the clock in an excellent 21:14.85
At the female level the situation is even more complicated and the best of the Italians, Alessia Titone and Martina Casiraghi will hardly be able to compete with the current top three in the world. On the other hand, it would be an excellent sign to see them pass Camille Moutard (FRA) who obtained a good 14:27.56 in Lyon (FRA) at the start of the indoor season on Dec. 1, 2018.
We finish by remembering only the winners of the last two championships:
U18 boys
2017: Davide Finocchietti in 21:45.98
2018: Gabriele Gamba in 22:27:22
U18 girls
2017: Andrada Lavinia Lacatus in 14:22.63
2018: Ida Mastrangelo in 14:05.38