Today, June 7, is exactly one year away from the start of one of the most important and exciting sporting events ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The #Roma2024 European Athletics Championships will take place June 7-12, 50 years after the Italian capital last hosted the competition in 1974.
The picturesque setting of the Olympic Stadium, which also hosted the 1960 Olympic Games and the 1987 World Athletics Championships, and the Foro Italico Park will be the setting for the competition. Some competitions, including the qualifying phase of the men’s and women’s weight throw, will be held at other historic and symbolic venues in the city.
The #Roma2024 half-marathon route is designed to show athletes and spectators from around the world who will follow the race some of the city’s most famous and iconic places. The half-marathon and 20-kilometer march routes (included in the European Championships program for the first time during an Olympic year), as well as the weight throw qualifying venue, have been planned in exceptional locations that will be revealed later.
Another new addition to the program is the 4×400-meter mixed relay, which will make its debut at the #Roma2024 European Athletics Championships, along with five other relay races, including the men’s and women’s 4×100 meters and the men’s and women’s 4×400 meters.
More than 1,000 athletes from all over Europe will participate in next year’s event, marking the 26th edition of the European Athletics Championships, the longest running and most prestigious event on the European athletics calendar.
Remembering Rome 1974
In that edition, a noisy crowd of 60,000 people in the Italian capital admired live the triumph of the late Pietro Mennea – still the European 200m record holder with 19″72 – who took gold in the 200 meters, improving on his silver medal won in the 100 meters.
The 1974 European Championships in Rome also saw the rise of the very strong Sara Simeoni, who won her first major career medal, taking bronze in the high jump at the age of 21. Simeoni would go on to win European gold four years later in Prague, equaling the world record of 2.01 meters, and then also win Olympic gold in Moscow in 1980.
The star of those championships was undoubtedly Poland’s Irena Szewinska, who won the 100-meter and 200-meter titles, setting championship records in 11″13 and 22″51, respectively. Szewinska would later add a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter relay before finishing her 1974 European Championships in Rome with an extraordinary time of 48″5 in the 4×400-meter relay.
In total, 24 gold medals were awarded with record performances and four world records were set during the competition.
Aiming #Roma2024
Fifty years later, the European Athletics Championships return to the Olympic Stadium. Will the history of athletics be written again?
#Roma2024 could be Italy’s moment, as Italy’s representative team has rarely been in better shape at the European Championships. This was evidenced by the extraordinary Olympic campaign in Tokyo 2020, in which Italian athletes exceeded all expectations by winning five gold medals, before achieving in Munich 2022 the best medal haul ever at the European Athletics Championships since 1990, with 11 medals won.
Marcell Jacobs and Gianmarco Tamberi won two gold medals in the space of an hour at Tokyo 2020, with Jacobs going on to win his second gold in the 4×100-meter relay. Both confirmed their Olympic successes by winning their respective European titles in Munich 2022. And it is by no means to be ruled out that all four of Italy’s individual Olympic champions will compete at #Roma2024.
With the 20-kilometer march included as part of the European Athletics Championships program for the first time in an Olympic year, Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions Antonella Palmisano and Massimo Stano will have the opportunity to win European titles to add to their respective resumes before they compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In addition to Italian veterans already established in the international athletics scene, some of Italy’s best young talents are also expected to become stars at #Roma2024. Still 18 years old, the charismatic and predestined Mattia Furlani recently jumped 8.44 meters, albeit with marginal favorable wind, while his long jump partner Larissa Iapichino, 20, will try to return to the podium after winning silver at the Istanbul 2023 European Indoor Championships.
The plan is ready
“Many world records have been set in Rome,” said European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov, “and we expect just as many excellent performances during Rome 2024, especially from the stars of Italian athletics. We look forward to that moment, in a year that will bring the world of European Athletics and Rome 2024 right into the hearts of the public, generating excitement and enthusiasm. Congratulations to the Local Organizing Committee and the Italian Athletics Federation (FIDAL). Rome 2024 could be the best European Athletics Championships ever.”
“The EuroRoma2024 Foundation will work hard to organize an exceptional event,” said EuroRoma2024 Foundation general director Paolo Carito, “with the support of all the institutions involved, starting with the Italian Federation, the government, the City of Rome, the Lazio Region, CONI and Sport and Health. The whole team is working hard to host such an important event and to honor the value of athletics. It has been 50 years since the last European Athletics Championships were held in Rome, the city will once again be ready to welcome all the legends and outstanding European athletes, old and new.”
Also projecting herself to #Roma2024 is European silver medalist in the indoor long jump, Larissa Iapichino: “It’s really exciting. For athletes,” explains the Italian jumper, “having the support of the home crowd is an honor and something that gives you a lot of energy. I’m excited and I think it’s going to be a great European Championships. I can already feel the excitement.”