With Eurovision and Hype a never-before-seen event

Eurovision Sport has today launched a search for pioneering sports broadcasting tech founders, in partnership with HYPE Sports Innovation.
With a focus on the European Athletics Championships hosted in Rome next year, Eurovision Sport will harness HYPE’s extensive sports tech network and expertise to find innovative startups with solutions that address numerous industry challenges in areas such as production and engineering, and digital streaming.

This partnership initiative directly supports Eurovision Sport’s mission to keep the best sporting events free and accessible to audiences throughout Europe, whilst remaining adaptive to an ever-evolving industry.

Head of Audio & Innovation for Eurovision Sport Christophe Pasquier said: “We are thrilled to collaborate with HYPE Sports Innovation as this partnership marks the dawn of a fresh era in the realm of media and broadcasting, where state-of-the-art solutions are poised to enhance the viewer’s experience to levels previously uncharted.”

Founder & CEO of HYPE Sports Innovation Amir Raveh said: “Collaborating with Eurovision Sport, we’re set to redefine the future of media and broadcasting with innovative solutions that will change the game.”

European Athletics Association Communications, Television & Digital Director Marcel Wakim said: “This year marks the 26th edition of the European Athletics Championships, and with a more diverse programme of events than ever before we’re excited at the potential this initiative has to innovatively impact our flagship event.”

Roma 2024 Metaverse featured at Social Football Summit

The Metaverse of the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships featured at the Social Football Summit, the international B2B event dedicated to the soccer industry organized at the Olympic Stadium. Visitors and representatives of stakeholders and media explored the virtual world developed ahead of the major sporting event-scheduled for June 7-12 next year-in the booth set up by exhibitor partner XMetaReal, which designed the Metaverse dedicated to the European Athletics Championships together with the EuroRoma 2024 Foundation.

Special guest was CONI President Giovanni Malagò, who tested firsthand, wearing visors designed for virtual reality, the potential of the new technology applied to the world of sports. “It’s really amazing,” Malagò said after having the immersive experience in the Roma 2024 Metaverse, just inside the stadium that will host the athletics competitions for six consecutive days next year.

CONI is among the entities participating in the EuroRoma 2024 Foundation along with Sport and Health, FIDAL, the Department for Sport of the Prime Minister’s Office, Roma Capitale and the Lazio Region.

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200 days to go until Roma 2024. Race walk to finish in the stadium

For the first time in an Olympic-year edition of the European Athletics Championships, the men’s and women’s 20km race walk will feature on the competition programme in Rome from 7-12 June. And the race walking events will enjoy star billing in the Italian capital.
For the first time at any major championships since the 2015 World Athletics Championships in Beijing – and for the first time at the European Athletics Championships since Gothenburg 2006 – the races will conclude inside the main stadium and the winners will be crowned in the Stadio Olimpico.
The race walkers will embark on 19 laps of the Foro Italico – the city’s iconic Olympic Park – before concluding their journeys in the Stadio Olimpico where huge crowds are anticipated throughout the championships, the first time Roma has staged the European Athletics Championships since 1974.

For reigning Olympic champions Massimo Stano and Antonella Palmisano, there could be no better send-off as they prepare to defend their Olympic 20km race walk titles in Paris later in the summer.
Palmisano could also open the Italian medal rush as the women’s 20km race walk is the first medal event on the programme at 6.35pm local time on the first day proper of the European Athletics Championships on Friday 7 June.

And for Stano, there is also the possibility of emulating the great Maurizio Damilano who won gold in the 20km race walk at the 1987 World Athletics Championships which were also held in the Italian capital.
“I was talking about it with Maurizio Damilano, who entered the Olympic Stadium as a winner [in the 20km race walk] at the 1987 World Athletics Championships. When I competed in Beijing 2015 I came 20th but the emotion of entering that packed stadium was crazy.
“I can’t imagine what it means to be the first to enter the Stadio Olimpico: it would be fantastic, because the European Championship is the only title I’m missing,” said Stano, who also won the 35km race walk title at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.

Palmisano provided the second part of the Italian double in the 20km race walk at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and she is equally excited by the prospect of competing in a home championship and the atmosphere of an Olympic Stadium finish.

Stano-Palmisano

“The finish of the race will be inside the stadium and it will be so beautiful. This hasn’t happened since the 2015 World Championships, and I have goosebumps when I think about it.
“We will need the support of all the people in the stadium and those who will cheer for us from home. Their affection will be crucial, and I promise them that we will have fun together. It would be great to see you all at the Olympic Stadium, I look forward to seeing you in Roma 2024,” said Palmisano.

Francesco Fortunato won gold at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady in June and he is also relishing the prospect of representing “Azzurri” again in Rome next June.
“The Roma 2024 European Championships will be a great opportunity for all Italian race walkers and I am happy that the finish of the race walk course will be inside the Olympic Stadium. I have already experienced what it means to compete in Rome during the Golden Gala. It will be really exciting to experience that atmosphere again,” he said.

Italy won 11 medals at the last edition of the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich including three gold medals courtesy of Marcell Jacobs (100m), Gianmarco Tamberi (high jump) and Yemaneberhan Crippa (10,000m).

Howe meets students and institutions “I want to be there in Roma 2024”

Bring institutions, the world of sports and young people into dialogue to tell the story of the value of major sporting events in the process of European integration. That was the goal of the debate “Sport Unites Europe,” held today at the Esperienza Europa – David Sassoli space in Rome. The event was sponsored by the EuroRoma 2024 Foundation, which is organizing the upcoming European Athletics Championships, in collaboration with the European Commission Representation in Italy and the European Parliament Office in Italy.

In front of a group of students and teachers from Liceo Ginnasio Torquato Tasso and Liceo Scientifico Paritario San Giovanni Battista, Vice-President of the European Parliament Pina Picierno, Director of the European Parliament Office in Italy Carlo Corazza, Head of the European Commission Representation in Italy Antonio Parenti, Director General of the EuroRoma 2024 Foundation Paolo Carito and Italian athlete Andrew Howe participated in the debate.

“Often when we think of European institutions we think of them as an agglomeration of bureaucracy living a detached existence from the plane of reality, but without the social, cultural and sports infrastructure every single action we take would be in vain. This is also why sports is one of our main areas of action also envisaged by the Lisbon Treaty, representing a vector for promoting the values of inclusion and active participation, spreading correct lifestyles. Organizing and hosting an international event such as the European Athletics Championships will allow Italy to start paths to raise awareness, especially among the younger generations, about the importance of physical and motor activity, precisely at a time when our country and most European countries are experiencing a worrying increase in sedentariness with serious effects on both physical and mental health. Bringing younger people into the sports system means ensuring their rights and emancipation, particularly in the most distressed geographical and urban areas, primarily in the South. The appointment in Rome will therefore be an opportunity to reconnect a piece of our country to sports and in particular to a historical discipline with wide penetration capacity like athletics,” said Pina Picierno.

Paolo Carito recounted the lead-up to the upcoming European Athletics Championships, scheduled for June 7-12, 2024, in Rome, emphasizing the adherence to the project of volunteers who will participate in the organization of the event. “About 25 percent of the requests we received came from countries outside Italy, and we are preparing to form an international team of young volunteers who will make a vital contribution to the success of the event. Also in the stands of the Olympic Stadium we expect the participation of many sports fans from all over Europe,” Carito explained.

Andrew Howe, European outdoor and indoor champion and vice-world champion in the long jump, recounted the different experiences he had during his glorious career and revealed his desire to participate in the next European Athletics Championships, when he will be 39 years old, to close his career in front of the home crowd at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. “I have had the privilege of participating in many international events and winning gold twice at the European level. In athletics competitions there are no boundaries and you can compare yourself with so many kids from different backgrounds, but who have the same dreams and goals as you. Now I have to honor a promise I made to my mom: to close my career at the European Athletics Championships here in Rome, and I’m giving it my all to achieve that goal,” Howe said.

Karhu’s technical apparel at the European Championships

The Finnish sportswear brand Karhu will be the official supplier of the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships, scheduled for June 7-12 next year. This agreement represents a connection with a glorious past, thanks to the full involvement of Franco Arese, who has led the Karhu company for ten years. Arese is a former athlete and he won the gold medal in the 1,500-meter race at the European Championships in Helsinki in 1971. Later he started a new chapter of his life as an entrepreneur and a sports politician, Arese was the president of the Italian Athletics Federation from 2005 to 2012, and now he decided to participate in the Rome 2024 European Championships project, which will bring Italy and the capital Rome back to the center of the international athletics scene.

“Karhu was the sponsor of the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki and more than 50 years later will return to Rome. This is a perfect link between the most important success of my career as an athlete, the gold in the 1500 meters in Helsinki, and Italy, my country. Now there is a new challenge as an entrepreneur alongside my sons and our staff, a story that continues and gives me great energy and enthusiasm,” explains Franco Arese, Chairman of Karhu.

Karhu will be responsible for the production and supply of clothing for the officials, members of the organizing committee staff and volunteers who will contribute to the success of the Rome 2024 European Athletics Championships. In addition, the Finnish company will produce the official merchandising material for the event, which will go on sale starting in the coming months and will also be available in the stores of the Commercial Village set up outside the Olympic Stadium during the sporting event.

“When we met, I caught in the eyes of Karhu’s managers, first and foremost Franco Arese, the desire to approach this challenge in a special way. Karhu will provide us with a beautiful collection of clothing, which will help make the experience of the competition judges and all the staff who will participate in the organization of the European Athletics Championships exceptional,” said Paolo Carito, general manager of the EuroRoma 2024 Foundation.

The company

Karhu, that means “bear” in Finnish, is a leading brand that has been making and supplying technical running and outdoor clothing for a century. The company is linked to athletics by a long history that is a valuable legacy for keeping up with the times, and has a deep connection with outdoor activity and the natural environment. Indeed, Karhu follows the Finnish principles of simplicity of design and purity of running. Karhu shoes have been worn by Finland’s greatest athletes, including champion Paavo Nurmi, 12 Olympic medalists, 9 of them gold, as well as five Boston Marathon winners. Karhu shoes and clothing are sold worldwide at running and lifestyle retailers.

Larissa Iapichino in the Metaverse: ‘I chose athletics for Bolt’

A media event in an unprecedented digital scenario, opening a new frontier for innovation in Italian sports. European Under-20 long jump champion Larissa Iapichino was interviewed in the Metaverse built specifically for the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships. The project developed by the EuroRoma2024 Foundation, together with Metaverse Partner XMetaReal, offers people around the world the opportunity to have an immersive experience in the environments – reproduced digitally – that will host the athletics competitions next year from June 7-12. From the Olympic Stadium to the avenues of the Foro Italico Park, athletics fans and beyond can begin to breathe in the atmosphere of the European Athletics Championships well in advance, find out in advance where the platforms for jumps and throws will be located and, soon, buy tickets directly inside the Metaverse.

“The Metaverse is a really cool experience, as they say in my neck of the woods it’s cool! It’s an innovative way to socialize, technology gives us these gems that I think are very interesting,” said Larissa Iapichino, who answered questions from Sky Sports reporter Federica Frola and other connected visitors.

“As a child, I never thought that athletics would become my job. I fell in love with the sport not so much because of the example my mom set, but because of Usain Bolt. Coming from a family of Jamaican descent, I remember us gathering on the couch at home to watch Bolt’s races and even my grandmother would jump in. Seeing him run was really exciting. With athletics you never get bored, it is very dynamic and varied, there are so many different athletes fighting to get as high as possible. During middle school I realized that I had a knack for athletics and I started practicing it in earnest,” Iapichino recounted.

Upcoming events in the Rome 2024 Metaverse will be announced on the official website of the competition.

Historic decision: bonuses for best athletes in Roma 2024

The European Athletics Council unanimously approved the awarding of performance bonuses to athletes at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships during its 171st meeting of the Council held in Vilnius, Lithuania on Wednesday (18).

The format and the structure of the bonuses will be unveiled at a later date, but this is a landmark decision for European Athletics as it will be the first time since the European Athletics Championships were inaugurated in 1934 that financial rewards for competitors will be directly available.

“I am very pleased that we have been able to announce that for the first time there will be performance bonuses awarded at the European Athletics Championships. This is a historic decision,” said European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov. “Offering special bonuses for excellent achievements by our athletes in this important format will further incentivise Europe’s top athletes competing in Rome next summer but also it adds an additional point of interest for the fans and media which, in turn, definitely adds value to the championships.

“We will of course continue our very stable and sustainable investment in events, competitions and Member Federations and athletics development. However, this historic Council decision will further strengthen our position of always having the athletes themselves at the forefront of our thinking. European Athletics is now able to further enhance the attractiveness of the premier event in our competition portfolio without diminishing our other important commitments.” added Karamarinov.

“I, and the rest of the Athletes Committee, welcome this decision for the European Athletics Championships,” commented European Athletics Athletes Committee chair Lea Sprunger. “All of us on the Committee have been pushing for more financial opportunities for athletes and see this as a first good step in the right direction,” added the 2018 European Athletics Championships 400m hurdles champion from Switzerland.

Also approved by the Council was a Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships ‘Ambassadors Programme’ which will see international and Italian athletics stars at the forefront of the promotional and marketing campaign for the championships.

Karamarinov recognised that 2024 will be a busy year for high profile sports events – with the EURO (European football championships) and Paris 2024 Olympic Games staged shortly after Roma 2024 – but noted the increasing cooperation between European Athletics, its Member Federations, the Italian athletics federation (FIDAL) and the Roma 2024 Local Organising Committee to make Europe’s most important athletics event one of the most significant sports events of the year.

Read the news on European Athletics website

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Osakue: “Roma 2024 will be the chance of my life”

The European Athletics Championships at home, 50 years after the last edition in Rome 1974. Next year’s event at the Olympic Stadium will be unmissable for Italian national team athletes who will have the chance to compete in front of their home crowd.

A confirmation of the importance of Roma 2024 in the planning of the upcoming season comes from Daisy Osakue, the Italian record holder in the discus throw. In an interview with Atletica Italiana Tv, the channel of the Italian Athletics Federation, the Italian athlete showed all her excitement and anticipation for the competitions to be held June 7-12, 2024.

“European Championships in Rome opportunity of a lifetime? Absolutely,” Daisy replies confidently, “the fact that the event comes before the Olympics gives it greater value.
Having all my family, my friends at the Olympic Stadium, I get chills just thinking about it, it’s an opportunity I wouldn’t want to miss.”

The excitement, in short, is already great, and the Italian thrower wants to prepare herself as best as possible. “Knowing me,” Osakue further explains, “I know that I have to lower ‘the fires,’ so that I can arrive at the appointment focused, with the right level of eagerness, but without ruining everything with anxiety and too high expectations. So yes, Rome 2024, I’m crossing my fingers and saying to myself … take it easy!”

The anticipation for Rome 2024 is shared by the entire Italian team. “The European Championships in Rome, at home, at the Olimpico, are perhaps the most important appointment of the coming season. In that stadium there is a dream. We will aim and I will also aim with the relay to take as many gold medals as possible,” said Olympic champion Filippo Tortu, interviewed by Radio TV Serie A with Rds.

“Next year will be crucial because there are two major appointments, the European Championships in Rome and the Olympics in Paris,” stressed middle distance runner Nadia Battocletti, speaking at the opening of the Trento Sports Festival.

Roma 2024 stars at Metaverse Festival

“The Roma 2024 Metaverse will allow us to intercept a new target audience for athletics and engage the younger generation. Thanks to this project, everyone will be able to participate in the European Athletics Championships, transcending space-time limitations.” This was explained by Paolo Carito, managing director of the EuroRoma 2024 Foundation, during the presentation of the project developed together with XMetaReal ahead of the European Athletics Championships, to be held in Rome from June 7-12, 2024.

The new digital environment built especially for Roma 2024 was unveiled at the Centrale Nuvola Lavazza in Turin during the Metaverse Festival, organized by the National Association of Young Innovators, in collaboration with the European Parliament’s Italian Liaison Office.

“We are the only Italian sports event that has opened a space in the Metaverse,” stressed Paolo Carito, “and we should not talk about virtual reality because it is a real physical concept, which aims to overcome the limits of physicality itself. The Metaverse, in fact, will allow people from all over the world to experience the atmosphere of the European Athletics Championships at a distance and several months in advance of the start of the event.”

Project testimonial Larissa Iapichino has already inaugurated the Beta version of the Roma 2024 Metaverse with her avatar. Starting in the next few days on the Roma 2024 website, it will be possible to book to start exploring a preview of the digitally reproduced spaces of the Olympic and Foro Italico, accompanied remotely by animator-tutors who will guide people through the experience.

Roma 2024 also opens its doors to all those who wish to become active participants in the project, as animators. Task that will consist of guiding people in visiting the environments of the Metaverse. Applications can be submitted by emailing staff@roma2024.eu.

Roma 2024 Volunteers selections kick-off

Selections have officially begun for the volunteers who will take part in the “Roma 2024 Volunteers” program and participate in an operational role at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships.

The EuroRoma 2024 Foundation program, with support of HR supplier Humangest, has already collected around 1,500 applications so far, which will start to be screened for the final selection.

The Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships will be one of the most important international sporting events to be held in Italy in 2024 and represent a unique opportunity to bring together the global community of sports and athletics. The enthusiasm for the event is evidenced by the global participation in the “Roma 2024 Volunteers” program: more than 400 applications were sent from European countries outside Italy and around the world, with applications from all continents.

Applications are possible until 31 December. People wishing to take part in the “Roma 2024 Volunteers” program should fill in the form available at www.eventi.humangest.it/job-seekers.php.

Humangest’s team of recruiters will contact all candidates individually for interviews. The volunteers selected will receive several exclusive benefits: free entry to the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships’ competitions, access to specific training sessions organized by Humangest and EuroRoma 2024, an official uniform that will be assigned to each volunteer and participation in the closing party.

Following the selection phase, the volunteers have to take part in an initial general training course and then will be assigned to specific functional areas related to the organization of the event: Accreditation, Spectator Services, Competition, Protocol and Ceremonies, Media & Communication, Medical & Anti-Doping Area, Accommodation, Logistics, Transport, Venues, Hospitality, Sponsor Services, and Marketing. Part of the volunteers will take care of information and cultural & tourist services related to the European Athletics Championships at strategic points in Rome.

The requirements to participate: 

a) to be 18 years old by 6 June 2024, i.e. by the start date of Rome 2024 (or in any case to have reached the age of majority at the start of the volunteer experience, in the case of side activities);

b) be Italian citizens with knowledge of English or citizens of other nationalities with knowledge of English and Italian, basic level;

c) enjoy civil and political rights;

d) guarantee a minimum availability to participate in the event based on the dates of the official calendar and/or side events.