The countdown to the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships is almost over. From 7-12 June, the top athletes of the continent will compete at the Olympic Stadium and at the Foro Italico Park (tickets and packages on sale here).
An amazing setting for an inclusive event that will allow sports fans and families to follow the Italian and international champions up close and meet them every day at the Foro Italico Park.
The Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships will be also a big opportunity to enjoy an area rich in history and charm, renovated by Sport e Salute for the benefit of citizens, families, and young people, and that will remain free for the public and accessible to all.
During the six days of the Championships, outside the Olympic Stadium, the ‘Fontana della Sfera’ (Sphere Fountain) square will be transformed into the ‘Medal Plaza’ of Roma 2024, where medal-winning athletes will be awarded every day. The award ceremonies will be held twice a day in the Medal Plaza (starting at 6 p.m. and around 11 p.m.), while the award ceremonies for the half-marathon on 9 June will take place inside the stadium at the end of the race.
The Medal Plaza will be the heart of the Roma 2024 Fan Village and will be open free for all, even for those who do not have tickets for the European Athletics Championships.
On 7 June, after the first morning session scheduled from 9.35 a.m., the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships will officially start at 6 p.m. with the Opening Ceremony in the Medal Plaza. It will be a show full of energy, including music, dance and visuals show.
This will be followed (18.35) by the women’s 20km racewalk final. All fans will be able to enjoy the challenge of the race walkers outside the stadium on an inimitable course: the athletes will start from the Viale del Foro Italico, then run 19 laps around the Fontana della Sfera square and the Stadio dei Marmi, before ending the race inside the Olympic Stadium, which will only be accessible to ticket holders. The following day, in the evening session on 8 June, the men will then compete on the same course in the men’s 20km race walk final.
The Stadio dei Marmi, restored and renovated with a new athletics track, will be the main warm-up area for the athletes, and many of them have already said that “it is the most beautiful stadium in the world’. During the European Athletics Championships it will be possible to closely follow the training sessions of the champions surrounded by statues.
The totally redeveloped Sphere Fountain will also come back to life and it will start working again as a real fountain. Another historical symbol of Foro Italico will become the centre of a village open to all, operating during the European Athletics Championships from 9 a.m. until midnight, for a total of 90 hours. An area with more than 800 square metres of food & beverage services, refreshment and shopping areas, but that’s not all: in the Fan Village a dedicated sports practice area will be set up for athletes and young people, thanks to the collaboration between Sport e Salute, FIDAL and sports clubs. In the Village there will also be spaces dedicated to art and body painting, to innovation, thanks to the ‘Sport and Innovation Made in Italy’ project curated by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and to health-care, through the ‘Sport is Health’ campaign conducted in cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Health.
Among the 50 stands of the Fan Village of Roma 2024 there will also be points dedicated to the merchandising of Karhu, the Official Supplier of the European Athletics Championships, and other sponsors and partners of the event including Fastweb, Unicredit, Net, Humangest, Le Gruyere and Wurth.
RDS will be the official radio of the Roma European Athletics Championships and with its speakers will bring energy and passion to the Medal Plaza, which will be animated with lots of music, games and fun, creating a festive and engaging atmosphere.
On 12 June, during the last evening session of Roma 2024, the British singer-songwriter Grace Davies will perform in two different moments on the Medal Plaza stage with the official song of the Championships, ‘Illuminate’, accompanied by the dancers, and with her other song ‘Roots’, appointing everyone to the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships.