Plenty of head-to-head clashes are poised to unfold on the Stadio Olimpico in two weeks’ time as athletes will compete for European titles forward of the Olympics this summer time.
Most of the continent’s most interesting will compete over the six days in 24 completely different occasions, with a complete of 147 medals up for grabs within the 47 finals of the competitors.
With the championships quick approaching, we have a look at numerous athletes who might mild up the occasion.
Italy is gearing up for an thrilling showcase of their athletes at their main dwelling occasion. In complete, the host nation has gained 44 gold medals in European Athletics Championships historical past and so they had a really profitable journey to the final championships in Munich 2022 the place they got here away with three gold medals and 11 medals in complete.
Among the many standout athletes is Olympic and European 100m champion Marcell Jacobs.
The Italian sprinter is aiming to shine in entrance of a house crowd once more, following his efficiency on the Roma Dash Competition final weekend the place he clocked a time of 10.07 (1.1) to win the 100m.
Nonetheless, he’ll face stiff competitors from Zharnel Hughes, who narrowly missed out to Jacobs in Munich 2022 the place the Italian matched the Briton’s championships file of 9.95. The reigning European 200m champion needed to accept silver.
Marcell Jacobs wins (Getty)
Gianmarco Tamberi shall be decided to retain his European excessive bounce crown and file, having beforehand secured victories for Italy in Munich in 2022 and Amsterdam in 2016.
The Olympic, World, and European champion can be on a mission to make historical past by turning into the primary excessive jumper to win back-to-back Olympic titles.
Nice Britain and Northern Eire may even be taking a powerful group throughout to Italy. Keely Hodgkinson is about to make her mark within the extremely aggressive girls’s 800m.
The 22-year-old struck gold on the 2022 European Championships and has earned silver medals on the Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Video games. Hodgkinson will now be targeted on including one other European gold to her spectacular assortment.
Keely Hodgkinson (Getty)
Dina Asher-Smith, who got here away with gold within the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay on the 2018 European Championships, is predicted to make an look over the shorter distance however has gone by way of a variety of change since her triple gold.
The 2019 world 200m champion parted methods along with her long-time coach John Blackie final 12 months and has since relocated to the US, coaching with coach Edrick Floreal.
In Munich 2022 the Briton completed second within the 200m to Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji, after pulling up within the 100m with cramp a number of days earlier than.
Her progress this 12 months has been spectacular, breaking the British indoor 300m file in January and delivering a stellar 4x400m leg on the Texas relays in March. Most just lately, she secured 200m victory on the Jamaica Athletics Invitational Meet final month.
Dina-Asher-Smith (Getty)
Katarina Johnson-Thompson has achieved a lot in her profession for Nice Britain, together with profitable the second world title of her profession in Budapest final summer time after overcoming damage.
Nonetheless, the British athlete has by no means claimed the European heptathlon title, having gained silver to Belgium’s Nafi Thiam in 2018. She’s going to now be getting ready for her first championship look this 12 months along with her eye on that gold.
Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen is gearing up for a packed schedule in Rome, the place he’ll try to safe victories in each the 1500m and 5000m occasions.
The European Championships have been notably rewarding for the Norwegian star as he first completed the spectacular double in Berlin at simply 17 years previous and repeated it in 2022.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Getty)
Femke Bol is about to make her return to the European Championships, having left Munich with a formidable haul of 4 gold medals within the 400m, 400m hurdles, girls’s 4x400m relay, and blended 4x400m relay for the Dutch.
This time, Bol will stay as a standout within the 400m hurdles, the occasion wherein she is the world champion. Earlier this 12 months, she broke her personal 400m indoor world file to turn out to be the world indoor champion in Glasgow and followers can count on to see this velocity on full show in Rome.
Femke Bol (Getty)
The European Championships are additionally notably significant for Mondo Duplantis. Six years in the past in Berlin, he achieved his first ever six metre clearance.
Now, as he prepares for Rome, the American-born Swede is already an Olympic champion and has twice damaged his world file in 2024, with the present file set at 6.24m.
Mondo Duplantis (Getty)
Rhasidat Adeleke shall be aiming for her first main senior title in Rome, following a formidable begin to the 12 months. The 2-time European U20 champion has had a stellar indoor season, breaking nationwide information within the 60m, 200m, and 300m.
Outside, she set a brand new Irish file within the 100m (10.84) on the Texas Relays and performed a key position in serving to Eire qualify for the Olympics within the girls’s and blended 4x400m relays, with a record-breaking 48.45 cut up within the latter.
Rhasidat Adeleke (Getty)
Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna, who secured world silver in 2022 and bronze final 12 months, is predicted to carry out as he broke the long-standing world file with a 74.35m throw in April.
In the meantime, Belgium’s Alexander Doom shall be seeking to placed on a efficiency, having unexpectedly taken gold on the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow the place he defeated Norway’s Karsten Warholm within the 400m and helped his nation to gold within the males’s 4x400m relay.
Because the occasion attracts close to, one factor is definite: the observe and discipline stars are set to ship an exhilarating championships, setting the stage for an thrilling summer time with loads extra athletes to look out for.
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