A triumph for Italy and for all Italian sport. The European Athletics has awarded the 2024 European Championships to Rome. The Capital will therefore once again host the greatest continental athletics event in the world, fifty years after the 1974 edition. It will also be the third time hosting for Italy, ninety years after the inaugural event in Turin in 1934. Rome's candidacy prevailed over that of the Polish Katowice, the other city in the running for review. The result in favour of the Capital, which was preferred by fourteen members (out of sixteen) of the EA Council, is clear. “Italy has already demonstrated its ability to host excellent championships for all age groups, and I am sure that the athletes and fans can't wait to visit Rome in 2024,” said interim president of European Athletics, Dobromir Karamarinov.

The satisfaction of the Italian Promoting Committee is enormous, with FIDAL leading a teamwork that has been made possible thanks to the support of the Government, the Lazio Region, the Municipality of Rome, CONI, Sport and Health, and many other bodies and associations. The sixteen members of the EA Council’s decision came at the end of the bidding event, which took place by video-conference. The option was granted to propose a clip that told and promoted the beauties of the Capital and the solidity of the Rome 2024 project, underlined by the initial speech of FIDAL President Alfio Giomi. The presentation - which lasted around forty minutes, with final questions on security, TV, option 2028, ticketing and the stadium - was given by the Councillor for Sport of the Municipality of Rome, Daniele Frongia, representing Mayor Virginia Raggi, by member of the Council of World Athletics, Anna Riccardi, by the head of the FIDAL International Area, Roberta Russo, and by the head of the FIDAL Communication Area, Marco Sicari. To support the candidacy, speeches were also given by Mayor Raggi, by the President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, by the President of Sport and Health, Vito Cozzoli, and by the Councillor for Tourism and Equal Opportunities of the Lazio Region, Giovanna Pugliese.

Therefore, after fifty years, Rome will once again be at the centre of European athletics, in the edition to be held after the Paris 2024 Games: the Olympics welcomed the event for the first time in 1974 in a review that was illuminated by the unforgettable Pietro Mennea’s sprint to gold in the 200 metres, who was also able to win silver medals in the 100 and 4x100. The edition is also remembered for the first podium between the European Championships, World Championships and Olympics for Sara Simeoni, who took bronze in the high jump, as well as Giuseppe Cindolo’s bronze in the 10,000 meters.

And it is symbolic that the assignment took place sixty years after the Capital Games. The Olympic Stadium will be in the heart of Europeans, but they will also embrace some of the most evocative corners of the city and their eternal charm: the shot put will take place among the exceptional scenery of the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, while the racewalking will unfold down the avenue of the Baths of Caracalla and the half marathon along the Half Marathon Via Pacis, starting and ending in Via della Conciliazione, in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica. (Photo Mezzelani GMT Sport)