Primo Nebiolo Trophy for Winners of IAAF Rome Millennium Marathon
23 December 1999 - Monte Carlo -The winners of the IAAF Rome Millennium marathon will be awarded the "Trofeo Primo Nebiolo", in memory of the IAAF President, who died on 7 November. It was Nebiolo who launched two years ago the idea of opening the new century with a race starting in St Peter’s Square and passing in front of some of the greatest symbols of the history of mankind.
His project became reality: around 12.30 PM on 1 January, thousands of athletes from around the world – and tens of thousands of Romans, including the Mayor of the City, Francesco Rutelli – will set out from this magnificent Square, whose universal vocation is superbly reflected by the masterful hand of the architect Bernini.
This human flood of runners will include some of the greatest specialists of the marathon, such as Kenya’s Josephat Kiprono, who has set the fastest time of the year on four separate occasions. Ethiopians Abebe Mekonnen, Tena Negere and Moges Taye, Italy’s Vincenzo Modica, silver medallist in Seville and Giacomo Leone, fourth-placed in the New York marathon are also entered. But, above all, in the women’s race, the unquestioned queen of the distance, Kenyan Tegla Loroupe, who with 2:20:43 once again improved on the world’s best performance this year, will head the field.
The athletes – who will receive the blessing of His Holiness Pope John Paul II before the off – will leave Saint Peter’s Square, pass through Piazza Venezia and Piazza del Popolo, before heading down the Lungotevere towards the Olympic Stadium. The course will then head back through the centre of Rome, before passing one of the world’s most famous Basilicas: San Paolo fuori Mura. From there, passing once again in front of the Cestia Pyramid, the race will head for the Terme di Caracalla and the Colosseum, before arriving at the finish line in the Imperial Forum, in the heart of Ancient Rome.
Whoever the winners – man and woman – of the IAAF Rome Millennium marathon, they will go down in history: forty years after the Olympic triumph of Abebe Bikila. Another page of history is waiting to be written on these same Roman streets.
ENDS
