For the first time since Gothenburg 2006, the half marathon or marathon course at an European Athletics Championships will finish inside the main stadium. Incidentally, the winner of the men's marathon in 2006 was Italian legend Stefano Baldini. Both half marathons will be run on a largely flat and spectator-friendly course in Rome 2024 on Sunday 9 June, allowing fans to see their favourite runners several times over the 13.1 miles (21.095 km). 

The men's race is scheduled for 9.00am followed by the women's race at 9.30am with the Fori Imperiali providing an impressive and dramatic backdrop for the start of both races. 

From there, the course will take in some of the most emblematic sites of the host city, passing by the Altare della Patria in Piazza Venezia, then along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and Piazza Navona, towards Castel Sant'Angelo and St Peter's Square, before heading towards Piazza Mazzini and Lungotevere Guglielmo Oberdan, the main road along the Tiber. 

After six kilometres, the athletes will complete three laps of a circuit that will take them past the Ponte della Musica and across the Tiber on the Ponte Duca D'Aosta. The final kilometres of the course will be run through the grounds of the Foro Italico Park before a grandstand finish at the Stadio Olimpico, where the individual and team champions will be crowned. 

Italy won't be without medal chances in the half marathon either. Reigning European 10,000m champion Yemaneberhan Crippa is also the third fastest European half marathoner in history with a national record of 59:26, while Ukrainian-born Sofia Yaremchuk is currently the fifth fastest European this year with a season's best of 68:27. 

"It will be exciting to run at home in Rome, surrounded by culture and such beautiful architecture. There is a lot of anticipation for Sunday 9 June and I hope to see many spectators supporting the Italian athletes and champions from all over Europe coming to Rome," said Crippa. 

Yaremchuk said: "I am looking forward to this day of celebration. It will be like running through history: the course is beautiful - from the start in the Fori Imperiali, with the magical Colosseum behind us, to the Foro Italico Park and the finish in the Olympic Stadium. It will be a fantastic half marathon for Rome, which is becoming the capital of European athletics."

The marathon has always been part of the European Athletics Championships programme, but the half marathon was introduced in 2016 for the Olympic year editions of the event and will serve as an important stepping stone for marathon runners looking ahead of Paris 2024. 

This is only the second time the half marathon has been held at the European Athletics Championships, following Amsterdam 2016, where Switzerland's Tadesse Abraham and Portugal's Sara Moreira took the individual titles. 

It was also an auspicious day for Italy, who won four medals in the half marathon in 2016. Daniele Meucci won individual bronze in the men's race and led Italy to team silver, while Veronica Inglese won individual silver in the women's race and led Italy to team silver. 

Italy's first victory in the men's marathon at the European Athletics Championships came at the 14th edition in Stuttgart in 1986 with Gelindo Bordin (2h:10.54), who repeated the feat in Split in 1990 (2:14.02). Stefano Baldini, the legendary Olympic champion, won the gold medal in Budapest in 1998, leading a triple with Danilo Goffin second and Vincenzo Modica third.   

The 52-year-old from Castelnovo di Sotto became European champion for the second time at Gothenburg 2026 (2:11.32), Daniele Meucci won at Zurich 2014 (2:11.08) and Italy was the best team in the men's competition at Berlin 2018. 

The hosts of the next European Athletics Championships have also two gold medals in the women's marathon: Maria Guida in Gothenburg 2006 (2h:26.05) and Anna Incerti in Barcelona 2010 (2h:32.48).