Italy's Federico Riva set a new Italian record in the mile, running the 1,609.34 meters in 3'48"11 in Berlin during a leg of the World Continental Tour. The Italian lowered by one and a half seconds his previous record (3'49"72), set last June 12 in Oslo thanks to which he had snatched the record from Gennaro Di Napoli after a good 33 years. The 24-year-old Roman, second behind Norway's Narve Gilje Nordas, recovered a couple of positions in the last lap, a sign of an excellent state of form to be maintained ahead of the World Championships in Tokyo, scheduled in less than two months. Over the course of the season, the Italian dropped to 3'31“42 in the 1,500 meters at the Golden Gala in Rome (second Italian all-time over the distance), as well as signing his personal best in the 800 meters (1'44”80 in Rovereto). Seventh place in the same event for Joao Bussotti in 3'50"67 (second all-time tricolor performance).