Italy’s Olympic and world high jump champion Gianmarco Tamberi had a characteristically bold message for the press conference on the eve of the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships – “Get ready to be surprised by our team!”
Speaking about the opportunities for home athletes on the 50th anniversary of the last time this event was held in the Italian capital, the 32-year-old talisman declared with his usual aplomb. “We don’t want to aim for a middle result here. My team is prepared to do crazy well at these championships,” he said.
Italy's best ever championships beckons?
Italy’s best medal haul at a European Athletics Championships was 12 - earned at the 1990 edition in Split. They won 11 in Munich two years ago and with athletes of the calibre of Tamberi, Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs and Olympic 20km race walk gold medallist Antonella Palmisano available there are clear ambitions for the setting of a new high mark.
“We are reaching a crazy peak,” said Tamberi who is the joint team captain alongside Palmisano. “We have never seen such results in Italy. We are one of the best teams in Europe so I am hoping our country will finish in the first spot [on the medal table]. Everyone wants the others to succeed and this creates a positive bond. So I am putting the pressure on our guys!”
This will be the first high jump competition in eight months for Tamberi, who had to revise his plan to open the season in Ostrava on 27 May after what he described as “a terrible month.”
“Don’t ask me why,” he said. “Everything had been going very well since October. Maybe my nervous system was down - I was tired and I got some problems with my knee. I did a jumps session one week before Ostrava and it was a total disaster.
“I was getting very nervous to compete in Olympic year with a possible bad result so I decided to take a little while to get back to normal status. But I’m feeling much better now – I have got positive vibes again.
“Starting at a home European Championships is more pressure, but when things get tough it is more fun. I would love to win but my main goal is to focus on my performance. I want to come away with a good height in my pocket, and if there is gold it’s even better.”
Fellow Olympic champions Jacobs and Palmisano back from adversity
Jacobs and Palmisano, sitting alongside Tamberi, also explained how they had come through recent challenging circumstances.
Acknowledging that the last time he ran under 10 seconds was in winning the European 100m title in August 2022, Jacobs explained that the intervening year had been one of upheaval as he split with his longtime coach Paolo Camossi and moved to train with Rana Reider’s group in Jacksonville, Florida.
He posted a season’s best of 10.03 at the Bislett Games in Oslo and following the withdrawal of the Briton who has run 9.97 this season, Jeremiah Azu, he has the fastest 2024 of all the contenders.
“I had to change a few things and start from scratch last year,” he said. “But I am now confident about my chances. With my coach I am in a phase where we are working a lot on the technical side.
“Only by competing do you put pieces together. The last competition gave me a lot but still a lot is missing. Hopefully here I will fit together more pieces.
“We still have a couple of months until the Olympics and there is time to fine-tune a few things to get into perfect shape. But I am confident when I run that the time will be there automatically.
“Rome is my city where I started to believe in my Olympic medals and I want to give something back to the people this weekend. There is pressure coming here as the Olympic champion, but I need to change this into energy to run fast.”
Palmisano, 32, explained how her victory at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics had been followed by a dark period of injury which required surgery.
“I say that in 2021 I changed, in 2022 I was broken and in 2023 I opened my eyes,” Palmisano commented. “And now in 2024 I am here.
“The injury following the Olympics changed me a lot because that is where you understand you have a strength inside that changes and supports you. After injury and surgery I fully understood what I really wanted - to continue to compete.
“For me there are positive vibes because we are competing at home and we are a strong team. We are also going to have energy from spectators. We are going to enter the Olympic stadium which is amazing and a part of history.
“Pietro Mennea, who won the European 200m title in Rome in 1974, is from my city. He wrote his story here – and maybe he will inspire me here,” said Palmisano.
Karamarinov describes Roma 2024 as "a gamechanger"
European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov described the impending Championships as “a game-changer”, saying that for the first time performance bonuses will be available for athletes, of whom there will be nearly 1700 from 48 different countries.
He pointed out that there is now a 40 per cent discount on all tickets, adding: “I really appeal to the people of Rome to come and applaud their own athletes and the other stars who will be here in the next few days.
“It is not easy to deliver a European Championships in Olympic year but we have chosen the best possible time which is still within the qualification period for Paris 2024. The fact that so many of our European stars are here shows these Championships are important. You can be really proud to be a European champion.”
Stefano Mei, the President of the Italian Athletic Federation who won the 1986 European 5,000m, added: “We want to thank all involved for their contribution to what we feel will be the most beautiful European Championships ever.
“With all these champions present this is at the same level as the Olympics. It is a unique occasion to lay foundations to encourage young people to take part in our sport.”
Mike Rowbottom for European Athletics