Andrew Howe Besozzi (ITA) in action in Debrecen 2001 (© Getty Images)
The Italian Athletic Federation (FIDAL) will celebrate 100 days to go to the IAAF World Junior Championships in Grosseto with a national gathering of around 90 young athletes this weekend.
The Local Organising Committee is already celebrating the first record of the championships: that of participation. Indeed, a total of 2380 preliminary entries (1686 athletes and 694 officials) representing 171 federations have already been received. Previously, the record of participation belonged to Annecy 1998 World Championships with approximately 2000 entries (1184 athletes).
Also, Grosseto is set to be the biggest sporting event ever held on Italian soil in terms of number of participating countries, better even that the Olympic Games and the 1987 IAAF World Championships.
Many of Italy’s most promising Junior athletes will be present at this weekend's training camp including Andrew Howe Besozzi who won the Long Jump bronze medal at the 2001 World Youth Championships in Debrecen and Vanessa Alesiani who was fourth in the Triple Jump last year in Sherbrooke World Youth Championships.
Gianni Gola, President of Fidal, said: “The atmosphere in Grosseto is unbelievable. Everyone in the city seems to be involved in the Championships. I want the athletes to believe in this competition because Athletics is full of wonderful stories.”
During the weekend a total of 16 educational activities will be organised including “training online”, “Running with nature” and “being a volunteer” working groups.
“Grosseto has brought a new enthusiasm for the sport in Italy. We really needed this,” said Alfio Giomi, President of the Local Organising Committee.
Fidal for the IAAF
