On 21 March ten years ago Pietro Mennea left us, but he never stopped running. And he didn’t even do it today. The Arrow of the South, as he was nicknamed, went through history to become a myth. A myth that thanks to the Pietro Mennea Foundation, Sport e Salute SpA, Coni and Fidal will continue to live. It will do so thanks to the Museum that will be created by the Foundation and by Sport e Salute SpA inside the Stadio dei Marmi.
That of the Mennea museum is a dream come true. It will be a path of emotions in which the digital part and that of memorabilia will merge. The works will start already in the autumn. They will be completed by the spring of 2024. The restyling of the Stadio dei Marmi dedicated to him is part of the celebration of Pietro Mennea. A first step of the largest regeneration work of the Foro Italico Park. Specifically, the athletics track and field will be redone, works that will be completed between September and October 2023. A restoration and conservative renovation of the steps and marble groups will also be carried out. Furthermore, a redevelopment of the galleries under the stands will be carried out with the construction of changing rooms for athletics and at the service of free activity. All of this will end in May 2024.
This is what was announced on the occasion of “10.01 – Pietro Mennea, the man and the champion”, the commemoration at the Stadio dei Marmi for the blue Olympic champion which was attended by former athletes, friends, the President emeritus of the Consulta, Giuliano Amato , and the former President of Coni, Franco Carraro.
«Mennea is a reference, because it’s easy to arrive when the conditions are better. But he has achieved civil and sporting goals for his courage, for his ability to sacrifice and commit himself. This must be demonstrated to school children ». This was stated by the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi. «Pietro Mennea entered Italian homes because he was the champion of the people. People loved him, he was called ‘the arrow from the south’, but he was the arrow from the south to the north of Italy» said Vito Cozzoli, President and CEO of Sport e Salute SpA «Mennea entered the Cozzoli home before it became a sample. My mother told me she was his English teacher, we were close to him in our hearts. He was the symbol of all Italians, especially those who went to work in the North and saw in Mennea that desire for social redemption. I am happy and excited that this event took place here at the Foro Italico», concluded the president of Sport e Salute SpA «Seeing that 19″72 of Mennea in the 200m in Mexico City I think it is the greatest Italian sporting feat of all the times. For universality and longevity”, the memory of the President of Coni, Giovanni Malagò, who named the Stadio dei Marmi after Mennea. “Mennea is the symbol of social revenge. An example to set. Together with Minister Abodi we will find a synthesis to push project and enter the school”, announced the councilor of the Municipality of Rome for Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion, Alessandro Onorato. “It hurts to know that he is no longer here. He gave so much to athletics and to all of us he said the number one of Fidal, Stefano Mei who shared the sport with Mennea. “This is the ideal place. This is Pietro’s house. Pietro acted as a union between all” the moving words of Manuela Olivieri, Pietro’s wife Mennea Which on the occasion has wanted to read a sentence that Pietro wrote in his diary that sounds like a legacy for sport and for future generations: «The sporting result is not so important, at least not as much as the human result. What really matters is not winning in sport, but winning in life. And to win, in life, you need to find the courage to live it authentically and to the fullest extent, facing victory and defeat, happiness and pain, hope and regret with equal dignity. Winning in life means reaching the most coveted goal and, at the same time, the most difficult one: becoming “men”. This is how I interpreted sport, this is how I interpreted and am interpreting life».