Having archived an excellent 2023, Italian sport is already looking to 2024, a calendar year that will offer several important sporting events. On all Paris Olympics, the 33rd of the modern era which will take place from Friday 26 July to Sunday 11 August. The five-circle event in the French capital precedes the long-awaited winter one by less than two years Milan Cortina. For Paris 2024, Italy already boasts 97 qualifiers in 18 disciplines and will soon reach 100. Among the objectives is to bring an Italy Team with ‘384+1’ athletes to France and therefore surpass what had been the historic record of Tokyo 2020 (in 2021) when 40 medals were won at a sporting level (10 of them gold). Also in Paris, from Wednesday 28 August to Sunday 8 September the Paralympic Games. In the midst of the winter sports season – the first European titles of 2024 will be those of speed skating from 5 to 7 January at the ‘meccà of the specialty of Heerenveen in the Netherlands – among the various World Cup competitions in skiing, luge and Nordic skiing and snowboarding, great tennis starts again in mid-January.
Football also has a very busy agenda which will experience its highlight from 14 June to 14 July with the 17th edition of the European Championship (UEFA Euro 2024) which will take place in ten locations in Germany. Italy, the reigning champions, will face Albania (15 June in Dortmund), Spain (20 June in Gelsenkirchen) and Croatia (24 June in Leipzig) in the group stage. The final at 9pm on July 14th in Berlin. As regards the European Cup finals, the first to be played will be the Europa League, on 22 May in Dublin (Ireland). The last match of the Europa Conference League will take place in Athens on 29 May and on Saturday 1 June the Wembley stadium in London will host the final act of the Champions League. Formula 1 will begin the World Championship on Saturday 2 March in Bahrain (not Sunday because it is Ramadan) and will end, after 30 events (24 traditional Grand Prix and 6 sprints), on 8 December in Abu Dhabi. After a four-year absence, the Chinese GP returns. The Emilia Romagna GP will take place on May 19th in Imola and the Italian GP on September 1st in Monza. As for the MotoGP, it starts on March 10th in Qatar and concludes, after 22 races, on November 17th in Valencia. On 2 June, Republic Day, Italian Grand Prix at the Mugello racetrack.
The European Water Polo Championships will take place in January where the two Italian national teams (men’s and women’s) will try to gain Olympic qualification (a pass among the nations not yet qualified) without having to resort to the last chance of the World Cup in February. The Italian national volleyball teams are also not yet qualified for the Paris 2024 Games and will have to gain as many points as possible for the world ranking in the group stage of the Volleyball Nations League. The women’s national team will be involved from 14 to 19 May in Antalya and from 28 May to 2 June in Macao, while the men’s team will be engaged from 21 to 26 May in Rio de Janeiro, from 4 to 9 June in Ottawa and in the third week from 18 to 23 June in Ljubljana.
The man of 2023 in international racket sport was an Italian, Jannik Sinner, player born and raised in the mountains on the border of the country, between Sesto and San Candido in Alto Adige, a stone’s throw from Austria. Sinner, Italy’s driving force in winning the Davis Cup, will enter the scene at the Australian Open from 14 to 28 January. The tennis agenda is as always very busy between the Grand Slams and the Master 1000. From 9 to 16 April tournament in Montecarlo, from 6 to 19 May the Internazionali d’Italia in Rome, from 20 May to 9 June the Roland Garros in Paris, from 1 to 14 July Wimbledon on the outskirts of London, then the Olympic bracket (Sinner intends to participate), June). In November, from 10th to 17th, ATP Finals in Turin.
The athletics calendar is also as rich as ever, with the European Championships in Rome in 2024 as the second most important event after the Paris Olympics. Appointment at the Olimpò in Rome from 7 to 12 June. The facility at the Foro Italico will also host the Italian stage of the Diamond League on Friday 30 August, namely the ‘Golden Gala-Pietro Menneà. The first important event for the ‘Queen of sports’ will be the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow (1-3 March), then the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade (30 March), the World Team Race Walk Championships in Antalya (21 April), and the start of the Diamond League (20 April in China) which will end on 13-14 September with the finals in Brussels.
For water sports, therefore swimming, artistic swimming, open water swimming and diving, the World Championships will take place from 2 to 18 February in Doha, Qatar. For swimming and other water sports except water polo, the last test before the Olympics will be the European Championships from 17 to 23 June in Belgrade (Serbia). As far as basketball is concerned, the Italian men’s team is still in contention to secure the Olympic pass. From Tuesday 2 to Sunday 7 July, the Azzurri will play in San Juan de Puerto Rico in a tournament with six Nations and only the winner will qualify for the Games. For basketball, 2024 will also be the year of qualifications for Eurobasket 2025. The cycling season will come into full swing in March first with Strade Bianche (2), then with the Tirreno-Adriatico (4-10) and the traditional opening with the Milan-Sanremo (16). Between March 31st and April 21st the Northern classics.
The Giro d’Italia will start on May 4th and end on the following 26th. The Tour de France will start on June 29th (conclusion on July 21st). The World Championships will take place from 21 to 29 September in Zurich. As regards the European track from 14 to 18 February in Apeldoorn in Holland and the World Championships from 16 to 20 October in Ballerup in Denmark. The Rimini Fair will host the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in the spring, the 36th edition of the men’s championship from 24 to 28 April and the 35th edition of the women’s championship from 1 to 5 May. For rhythmics, Milan will host the last stage of the World Cup from 21 to 23 June. For fencing, the World Cup is underway which will qualify for the Olympics while the European Championships will be held from 18 to 23 June in Basel, Switzerland. As regards the youth sector, the IV Under-18 Winter Olympic Games will take place in Gangwon in South Korea from 19 January to 2 February.