Today marked the first meeting of the Rome 2024 bid committee with the International Paralympic Committee, as bid Vice-President (and Italian Paralympic Committee President) Luca Pancalli met with IPC CEO Xavier Gonzalez and Integration Director Thanos Kostopoulos in Bonn.

Rome will forever be linked with the Paralympic movement as the 1960 Games in the Eternal City marked the first time that the Paralympics and Olympics were held side-by-side. Rome 2024 continues to embrace the values of inclusion and participation represented by the Paralympics and bring them to the fore in activities planned to promote the Italian bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2024.

In the meeting, Pancalli presented the venues earmarked to host the Paralympic disciplines and discussed the many initiatives attended recently by Paralympic athletes, such as Oxana Corso and Alessio Sarri (meeting with school administrators on October 8th) and Annalisa Minetti (yesterday with the students of the University Tor Vergata). These initiatives, the Committee pointed out, will allow Rome to create a real legacy in the application period, with training sessions organised in schools to deepen understanding of the Olympic and Paralympic values to young people.

Great appreciation and interest was also expressed by the IPC towards the start-up and training centre under construction in EUR (southern area of Rome) City of Paralympic Sports Tre Fontane (Three Fountains), which will become a world-leading venue. 

Vice-President Pancalli commented: "This demonstrates the seriousness of Rome also in Paralympic terms"