Italian former high jumper Alessandro
Talotti died of cancer aged 40 at the weekend.
Udine-born Talotti took part in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and
set an Italian indoor record of 2.32 metres in Glasgow in 2005.
He came fourth in the 2002 European championships.
Talotti had a son, Elio, last autumn with rollerskate champ
Silvia Stibilj, and married her a few days before he died on
Saturday night.
The president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), Giovanni
Malagò, tweeted Sunday: "With your jumps you gave us so many
emotions...today, sadly, very great pain. You flied too high but
you will always stay with us...one of us. Ciao, Alessandro!
#Talotti".
Italian athletics federation FIDAL said "Talotti was a great
athlete".
It added: "but what remains, above all, of his career, in those
who knew him, is the feeling of lightness he managed to transmit
both with his flight above the bar and with his smile".
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