The countdown to the start of the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships continues. In 100 days the Olympic Stadium and the Foro Italico Park will become the theatre of the great international event, which will return to the Italian capital fifty years after the last edition hosted by Italy in 1974.

From 7 to 12 June, almost 1,600 athletes will compete in Rome for 6 consecutive days of competition, with 11 sessions in total, 5 in the morning and 6 in the evening. The best European athletes will compete in 24 different disciplines for 141 medals.

Tickets and subscriptions for the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships  are on sale here, with prices starting from 5 euros plus presale and service fees for the individual morning competition sessions. Many families are expected at the Olympic Stadium and children up to 6 years of age will be admitted free of charge.

Among the most eagerly awaited protagonists of the Italian national team will be Mattia Furlani. At the Italian Athletics Championships in Ancona, the young athlete born in Marino, near Rome, set the new Italian record in the indoor long jump with a measurement of 8.34 metres, which also represents the Under-20 world record.

Next weekend Furlani will be competing at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, before performing in Rome 2024, in a stadium that represents a special place for him.

“The European Athletics Championships will be an amazing emotion. Jumping at home for me will be different. There are not many international competitions in Italy, but every time they happen it is a unique emotion. I hope it will be the beginning of a great journey,’ Furlani says.

For the Under-20 European champion, the competions in Rome will also be a family affair. “I would like my mother, who trains me, to be at the stadium, together with my brother and the whole family. The relationship with my mum cannot be described, I owe her everything. If I achieve these results, it is only thanks to her who studies and plans my training sessions waking up at 5am.

“Italian athletics is going through its best period ever. Gathering all the best athletes in a single competition in Italy will be something unique. Gimbo (Tamberi, ed.) and Marcell Jacobs are the reigning Olympic champions, and I am not forgetting Larissa Iapichino. There is a bit of ‘gimbesque’ soul in my jubilation: Tamberi is the greatest inspiration there is in this sport at world level. He is the greatest of all and I am inspired by him,’ Furlani concludes.

“It will be wonderful to experience the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships with the Olympic Stadium sold-out. I can’t wait to start the competition”. The Italian shot putter Leonardo Fabbri has no doubts.

“It will be a beautiful chance that I don’t know when it will happen again,” said the man who won the silver medal at the Budapest 2023 World Athletics Championships, “so we have to enjoy it and have fun. The Olympic Games are very important, but the European Athletics Championships at home has to be done well.”

The countdown to the competition, scheduled for June 7-12 at the Olympic Stadium and Foro Italico Park (tickets on sale here), has begun. “I really like to involve the public. I hope the stadium will be full because even if we will not be at 100 percent, we will definitely give something more. The whole Italian athletics would deserve it, because we have been doing very well lately,” added Fabbri, who has a special feeling with the Eternal City. “I attended the Golden Gala in Rome, enjoying the affection of the fans. Stands near platform were always sold out. The European Athletics Championships will be a dream,” said the 26-year-old, born in Bagno a Ripoli, just outside Florence.

Next June at the Olympic Stadium, in the shot put competition -“an explosive action that despite our imposing physiques makes us look like dancers”- the Italian shot putter will not be the only one participating. Also with him will be the other Italian Zane Weir. While waiting for Rome 2024, the two Italians will be involved in Friday’s final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow. “We have a beautiful relationship. We are friends in everyday life,” Fabbri says, “we stimulate each other and try to take something from each other every day. In Rome we can compete for the title or a double. It will be beautiful. I hope this relationship will lead us to one day be the Messi and Ronaldo of the shot put.”

With the European Athletics Championships over, the Italian will look to take revenge at the Olympics Games. “After missing the final by 10 centimeters in Tokyo, I told myself, ‘In Paris I don’t want anyone before me.’ I’m going to give it my all. I’ve been looking forward to getting back on an Olympic platform since that night in Japan.”

It’s always smiling, loves the history of the Eternal City and has been named Ludo. We are talking about the mascot of the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships. The name Ludo was chosen by athletics fans across Europe by participating in the social competition on the official Roma 2024 Instagram and X channels.

The final choice of the name was made among four options: Ludo was preferred over Urbe, Astra and Flavio.

The name Ludo fits perfectly with the profile of the mascot, inspired by the tradition of Rome and its most famous monument, the Colosseum. The “Ludi,” in fact, were public games organized by the Roman Empire to entertain people and were scheduled for festivals in the calendar of Ancient Rome. The “Ludi Magni” were dedicated to Jupiter and were inaugurated by King Lucius Tarquinius Priscus.

In Latin language, word “ludus” means play and fun, which will match the spirit of the mascot, ready to entertain people at the Foro Italico Park, where the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships will take place from June 7 to 12 (tickets on sale here).

Ludo is looking forward to discovering city of Rome and to having fun with athletics fans at the Foro Italico Park in June. It will interact with athletes on the competition field and entertain the public in the stands and in the Fan Village, which will be set up outside the Olympic Stadium.

The name of the mascot of the Rome 2024 European Athletics Championships, inspired by the history of the Eternal City, will be chosen by athletics fans.

On the official social media channels of the event, starting today, proposals will be collected. To participate, users will have to write their suggestions for the name of the mascot in the comments under posts published on the event’s official social channels. The contest will open on Thursday, February 22 on Instagram and X Roma 2024 channels, and will last for 24 hours. The name most voted by participants will become the official name of the mascot of the event scheduled for June 7-12 at the Olympic Stadium and Foro Italico Park.

In the coming days the mascot will be presented to the public and the city will begin to discover its features. The design recalls the Colosseum, the most famous monument of the Eternal City, ready to host the European Athletics Championships 50 years after the last edition held in 1974, while the colors are those of the event.

The Rome 2024 mascot loves being around people and will start showing up around the city, waiting to animate the six days of the European Championships in June. The mascot will interact with athletes on the competition field and entertain the public in the stands and in the Fan Village, which will be set up outside Olympic Stadium. But first she needs a name: help her to find it!

“I’m extremely excited for the forthcoming European Athletics Championships which will take place in Rome next June. Rome is my favourite Italian city. I had my first international competition in 2009 in Italy, in Bressanone. It’s always very interesting to travel abroad and see new places, but the atmosphere you feel when competitions are scheduled in your own country, it’s matchless. We are looking forward to racing in front of our supporters, I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. We are very loaded and happy”.

These are the words of Anna Bongiorni, who last summer shared the captain’s lines with the Italian Champion Gianmarco Tamberi, leading the Italian team to the conquest of the first historical European Cup, in Poland. Now the Italians athletes are training with great enthusiasm for this unmissable appointment, scheduled at the Olympic Stadium and Foro Italico Park from 7 to 12 June.

After the European bronze medal in women’s 4×100 relay, won in Munich in 2022, and the fourth place gained at the World Championships in Budapest, Bongiorni and her teammates want to celebrate the success again, in front of their home-fans. “We have worked very hard in the past years and the results obtained have repaid our efforts” says the Italian veteran. Although the bronze medal won in Munich was unexpected, today we have even more ambition. This will be a very important year. We are focused on Paris for the forthcoming Olympic Games, but the European Championship in our country are not less, having the sustenance of our supporters we will run faster, for sure. We will continue to work on us. The more we improve individually, the more the relay will progress”.

From Rome to Paris via Bahamas, where the World Relays will be held, intense months are approaching for the Italian relay athletes. “Considering the qualification system for the 2024 Olympic Games, we still do not have the pass, despite the excellent time done in Budapest last year. In early May, we have a great opportunity at the World Relay Championships in Bahamas. We must achieve the result. It will be important to get the qualification. We cannot allow ourselves any mistakes,” Bongiorni explains.

Referring to the success obtained in Chorzow, Anna says: “winning the European Cup with the Italian team was one of the greatest satisfactions of my career”. Although I don’t feel that old, I have a lot of experience in relays, and I know how to team up. My race didn’t go very well, so I had an extra incentive to motivate my teammates.

Tamberi and I make a very good team, we have worked hard to support the youth and the senior teams. We cheer each other on, and we are happy for the satisfactions and the results we reach as a team,” concludes Bongiorni.