2024 is a big year for any athlete with championship ambitions and for Italy’s Zane Weir it comes with added motivation.
As well as the Olympic Games in August, the shot put contender is eagerly looking towards the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships this summer, a rare opportunity for any athlete at the peak of their powers to compete in a major championship on home soil.
Historic venue
“I’m really excited to be able to compete in Rome, in front of the Italian fans in one of the most historic venues in the world,” said the reigning European indoor champion.
“It’s really important from a motivational perspective, but also really exciting from a perspective of competing with the best in Europe in front of the best fans in the world.”
Tickets are on sale now and can be bought for as little as €5 for the morning sessions. Individual session and multi-day session tickets remain available to purchase.
All tickets can be purchased here.
Winning form
Weir has started the year in fine form, he placed a solid fourth at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow just over a week ago with 21.85m although it left him 11cm short of the bronze won by training partner and teammate Leonardo Fabbri.
On Sunday, in his first foray of the season outdoors, he triumphed at the European Throwing Cup in Leiria for the second time, adding to his victory in 2022 at the same Portuguese venue when he set the current Cup record of 21.99m in decidely more favourable conditions.
Now, his eyes are firmly fixed on the Italian capital in a venue where he last competed back in 2020, where he was seventh in the Golden Gala Meeting.
"Magnitude of the stadium"
“I have only competed there once (Stadio Olimpico) and it was in my first year of high level professional sport,” he says. “So, the performance didn’t go well. Unfortunately it was during COVID, so we didn’t have a lot of support – but to feel the magnitude of that stadium was special.
“It’s a beautiful circle and I’m really looking forward to be able to step it up a level, going back there this time. I’ve only been living in Italy for the last three-and-a-bit years but getting to know the people and the culture, its super sentimental for me to be able to compete in the city that has given me so much support.
“It’s going to be a very special occasion and I’m really looking forward to doing it with my training partner Leo (Fabbri). I feel very lucky to be a part of this whole set up and to be doing it with him is very special. I’m hoping that special energy is going to give me the ability to be able to deliver a beautiful performance.”
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics