AW Magazine

30 May 2024

The June issue of AW places a focus on the upcoming European Championships, providing an in-depth 26-page preview of Rome 2024. Italian coach Marco Airale, mentor to a number of Britain’s top sprinters, talks about the growing strength of athletics in his home country, as well as the impact made by the Olympic success of the likes of Marcell Jacobs and Gianmarco Tamberi. He also delves into his own training group and in particular the development of Daryll Neita, who will be on the medal hunt over 100m this summer. British international distance runner Verity Ockenden is also resident in Italy and she discovers that the sport’s organisers still have work to do in keeping pace with the success of the nation’s athletes. It’s also 50 years since the European Championships were last staged in Rome. Steve Smythe takes a trip back in time to relive 1974, and also speaks to Ian Thompson, the Briton who once on top of the marathon world. You’ll also find all the vital statistics and information for the championships, as well some of the athletes to keep an eye out for in the coming weeks. An athlete who knows all about running quickly in Rome is Hicham El Guerrouj, whose 1500m and mile world records were set in the Eternal City. In a rare interview, he talks to Jason Henderson about the current middle distance scene and his “spiritual father” Roger Bannister. As the Olympics draw nearer, Cathal Dennehy interviews current joint high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim about how he is managing his body to put himself in contention. Away from the track, Tom Evans is back in full competition mode in the mountains following a traumatic end to 2023. He talks about recovering from being attacked on the run and how he was able to get back to doing what he loves, while author Richard Askwith writes about the changing face of felling running 20 years on from the publication of his well-known book, Feet in the Clouds. As ever, there are also strong opinions from our columnists and the best advice from our performance experts.