The famed Stadio Olimpico, venue for the European Athletics Championships, has played host to some of the greatest moments in athletics history
It feels like I’ve been here before. It was in another time, and only in my mind, and yet something and everything about walking inside the Stadio Olimpico this week felt utterly familiar.
The majestic hillside setting in the Foro Italico, and the surrounds filled with Stone Pine and Italian Cypress, Rome’s two signature trees, adds its own special flavour. Though originally built in 1928 and then named the Stadio dei Centomila , it was upgraded and renamed when Rome was awarded the 17th Olympics in the summer of 1960.Barry McClements aiming to make a big splash in Paralympic GamesThe rest is history.
Truth is there wasn’t much for my dad to write home about from l’Olimpico 50 years ago. Neil Cusack was fancied to medal in the marathon, having won the famed Boston marathon a few months before, but he ended up finishing eighth, the experienced British runner Ian Thompson winning gold. We’d also watched in awe earlier that summer, when at a 1987 Golden Gala meeting inside l’Olimpico, Aouita became the first man in history to run 5,000m in under 13 minutes, clocking 12:58.39. The Golden Gala produced several more world records since, Hicham El Guerrouj also from Morocco running 3:26.00 for 1,500m here in 1998, and the mile in 3:43.13 in 1999 – both those records still stand.
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