Stadio Raul Guidobaldi is an

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

located in

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Every year since 1971 the stadium hosts the

Rieti Meeting The Rieti Meeting is an annual athletics event at the Stadio Raul Guidobaldi in Rieti, Italy that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, it is now part of the IAAF World Challenge. It was first ...

; it also hosted the

2013 European Athletics Junior Championships The 2013 European Athletics Junior Championships was the 22nd edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes in under twenty. It was held in Rieti, Italy from 18 to 21 July. The medal table was topped by Great Britain with ...

. The stadium is notable for being the location where eight

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

were settled (the most famous being the 9"74 score in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

Asafa Powell Asafa Powell, CD (born 23 November 1982) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consiste ...

in 2007); for this reason,

Steve Cram Stephen Cram, (born 14 October 1960) is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arr ...

defined the stadium a sort of

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

for middle-distance runners.

History

Stadio Raul Guidobaldi, Rieti - tribuna Velino 01

The stadium was built as part of the construction program for the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

and inaugurated on 23 July 1960. In the 1980s a second grandstand and a marquee with an indoor track were built. In 1999 a roof was built for the main grandstand and the track was expanded to eight lanes. In 2011-2012 all tracks were rebuilt in sportflex material and painted in blue by company Mondo.

Description

The stadium is located in south-west Rieti, near other sport facilities, and is bordered by the

Velino river The Velino is a river in central Italy, a tributary of the Nera. Its source is located on Monte Pozzoni's slopes (1,903 m) near Cittareale. Aftwards it runs through a narrow valley next the Mount Terminillo, known as "Gole del Vento" ("Wind's ...

. The main track is made of sportflex and is 8 lane wide. Along each straight is a grandstand, with a total capacity of 5,000 spectators: the main one, called "Velino", has a roof supported by large steel arches and also hosts the changing rooms and the press station; the smaller one is called "Terminillo" and is not covered. Behind the main track is an area reserved to training and warming up, with a 250-metres-long 6-lane track, an area equipped for the long jump and javelin, and a marquee with an heated indoor track for winter trainings.

References

Sports venues in Italy Athletics (track and field) venues in Italy Sports venues in Lazio Rieti {{Italy-sports-venue-stub