A special coin dedicated to iconic Italian sprinter Pietro Mennea and to the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships was unveiled on Tuesday (6) during a ceremony held at the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Italy.
One of the greatest names in Italian athletics history, Mennea won 200m gold at the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games, as well as six European Athletics Championship medals, including 200m gold in Rome in 1974.
Mennea, who passed away in 2013, is also fondly remembered for running 19.72 over 200m which he ran in Mexico City in 1979, a time that stood as the world record for 17 years and is now into its 45th year as the European record.
The commemorative coin is worth EUR 10 and has the shape of an athletics track, including the official logo of the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships, which will be held at the Stadio Olimpico and the Foro Italico Park on 7-12 June.
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The reverse side of the coin shows Mennea, wearing bib number 433, which he wore when he won Olympic gold and the iconic time he ran the previous year,
The ceremony was attended by Pietro Mennea's wife, Manuela Oliveri, and Stefano Mei, president of Italian Athletics Federation (FIDAL) and the EuroRoma 2024 Foundation, along with the Minister of Economy and Finance of Italy Giancarlo Giorgetti and the Minister of Culture of Italy Gennaro Sangiuliano.
"The memory of Pietro Mennea enhances the Italian athletics movement and the upcoming European Athletics Championships in Rome, which will be held fifty years after the 1974 edition, during which Mennea achieved his first major career victory at international level.
"Pietro was the best of us all and I am really happy that he has been chosen as testimonial for this special coin,“ said Stefano Mei.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics