Athletics, weekend in Grosseto with the junior Tricolori and the 4x100

Athletics, weekend in Grosseto with the junior Tricolori and the 4x100.

“The events with great athletics are back – they comment the mayor Antonfrancesco Vivarelli Colonna and the sports councilor Fabrizio Rossi – After the success of last month's Grifone meeting, which is still being talked about, the Zecchini Stadium is preparing to host another important national event. On the track not only the Italian men's 4x100 relay team, but also many other athletes ready to compete and give us a record weekend. Our Administration believes a lot in sport to support tourist activity. The results are proving us right, highlighting how the path taken contributes to increasing attendance in our country and in the entire area. We will continue to work from this perspective, consolidating what has already been achieved regarding sporting events with the hope of being able to further increase the annual events".

Grosseto is again tricolor with athletics. For the fourth consecutive year, the Maremma capital is preparing to host a national event: the Italian Junior Championships, on the weekend from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd July. It is the event dedicated to the under 20 category which this year includes athletes born in 2004 and 2005. One of the most important events on the calendar because it involves the best young people, hundreds of participants and offers 44 titles up for grabs. But it will also be a fundamental stage in defining the Italian team that will participate in the next under 20 European Championships scheduled from 7 to 10 August in Jerusalem (Israel). Most of the competitions will take place at the Carlo Zecchini stadium, while the discus throw and hammer throw competitions will be at the Nilo Palazzoli field, while the Bruno Zauli school field will be the warm-up facility. The Grosseto Banca Tema Athletics is organised.

Many young Italians at the start. Expected in the awaited long jump is 18 year old Mattia Furlani who this year surpassed Andrew Howe's Italian junior record with 8.24, set in Grosseto in the 2004 World Championships, after landing at 8.44 windy (+2.2), best measurement under 20th all time in the world in all conditions. During the winter he achieved the European indoor U20 record with 7.99 while last season he revealed himself with the sensational double gold (high and long) at the U18 European Championships in Jerusalem. In the women's long distance event there will be Marta Amani, bronze medalist last summer at the U20 World Championships in Cali. In the auction on the platform Simone Bertelli who this year with 5.51 became the Italian indoor category record holder. Competing in the race walk are the two Italian winners of the European Team Championships, Diego Giampaolo and Giulia Gabriele. Other main names include Ludovica Cavo, finalist in the 400m hurdles in 2022 at the U20 World Championships, the pole vaulter Great Nnachi (4.30), the weightlifter Anna Musci (15.95) and the high jumper Aurora Vicini (1.88).

It will be the ninth time this event takes place in Grosseto, which since last year has no longer been combined with the under 23 age group, after the three-year period from 1986 to 1988 and then on five other occasions (1997, 2003, 2005, 2020 and 2021) together with the higher age group. In 2022, however, the city hosted the Italian Masters Track Championships and now confirms itself as one of the most traditional venues for youth events, to write yet another chapter in a story that also saw an edition of the Junior World Championships (2004) and two of the under 20 European Championships (in 2001 and 2017).

During the first day, Friday 21 July, the blue men's 4x100 relay team on the track. In an extra series, the Italian quartet, gold medalists in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics, will seek qualification for the World Cup in Budapest (19-27 August). The objective is to improve the time of 38.38 obtained on 7 May in Florence with which the Azzurri currently find themselves in seventh place among the nations that have to qualify with the times, out of the eight expected, and which will be added to the eight already confident of the pass having reached the final in the 2022 edition of the World Cup in Eugene, United States. Among the opponents, the participation of Malta's 4x100 is expected.

“This year too we are ready to host an Italian championship – comments Adriano Buccelli, president of Atletica Grosseto Banca Tema – for the fourth season in a row. An opportunity made possible by the city's facilities, which allow such important events to take place, and by the role of the municipal administration, continuing the tradition of athletics in Grosseto. Hundreds of people are involved in the organization during the races and in the days preceding, from the staff to the many volunteers, to whom we extend our thanks."

The sporting event was an opportunity to present the project promoted by the Grosseto Cultura Foundation and welcomed by the municipal offices of the Sport and Culture sectors, "Welcome athletes".

The initiative provides free entry to the municipal museums - Le Clarisse cultural center, Maremma natural history museum, Maremma archaeological and art museum - reserved for athletes who will be guests of the city of Grosseto on the occasion of important events such as that organized by Atletica Grosseto Banca Tema. The project also involves the companions and family members of the athletes who will have reduced admission.

“With the “Welcome athletes” project the city will have the opportunity to show its historical and cultural heritage to the general national and international public – observes the Councilor for Culture Luca Agresti – The extraordinary opening of the museums represents not only a gift that the Administration, in agreement with the museum directors, wants to give to the athletes guests in the city, but also a way to network between the different sectors. On several occasions we have seen how important it is to do so and how having proposed it has led to excellent results."

Satisfied too the president of the Grosseto Cultura Foundation Giovanni Tombari who comments: “This project goes in the direction of increasingly increasing the services offered by our Municipality to those arriving in Grosseto: it is a way to network between the various sectors, culture, sport, tourism. The idea is inspired by the candidacy of our city as Italian Capital of Culture 2024 and the recognition of the European Community of Sport 2024: these projects have demonstrated how the synergy between different realities is fundamental to increase the promotion of our beautiful city, which has facilities cutting-edge sports players, the sea just a few kilometers away and an important artistic and cultural heritage."

LIVE VIDEO – The event will be entirely broadcast live via video streaming on www.athletica.tv.