Coe: ''Great contests, stunning course''

04 Aprile 2016

"It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships Roma 2016. I must start by once again thanking Italy and the city of Rome for so enthusiastically bidding to host the event at such short notice. Given Italy’s history of hosting athletics events – and this competition in particular –  I’m confident this will be another great celebration of the world’s best race walkers.

With this being their fourth time as hosts, no other country has staged this competition more often than Italy has. The city of Varese hosted the second edition of the event in 1963, followed two years later by Pescara, hosts of the third edition. Having moved around the world in the intervening years, the competition returned to Italy in 2002 when the world’s top race walkers descended on Turin.

The competition’s name may have changed, but the format is essentially the same as it was when it was known as the IAAFWorld Race Walking Cup. With the event’s name now including the words ’team’ and ’championships’, we are hopeful thatmore emphasis will be placed on the teamelement and the individual championship titles on offer.

As well as the great contests among the athletes, fans can also expect to witness a stunning course like no other. The race begins near Rome’s iconic Colosseum before passing by archaeological sites such as CircoMassimo and the Baths of Caracalla. The looped part of the course is situated on Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, which formed part of the 1960 Olympic marathon route.

I look forward to what promises to be a great event in the Italian capital and wish the local organising committee all the very best in their final preparations".

Sebastian Coe
IAAF President

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