“Roma 2024 will mark a significant milestone in the season, as well as in my career overall. I’m excited to compete in the Capital city, with Italian fans in attendance, at one of the world’s most prestigious venues.” The Italian shot putter Zane Weir is already living the atmosphere of the Foro Italico Parl, which will host the European Athletics Championships from June 7th to June 12th (tickets and subscriptions available here).”
As the reigning European Indoor Shot Put Champion and fresh from securing fourth place at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Weir is confident that “competing against the best continental athletes, especially in front of the world’s best audience, will be an exciting experience.”
The Shot putter, born in South Africa in 1995, has represented Italy since February 2021 and shares a special bond with the Eternal City: “I’ve been spending a lot of time in Rome, I’ve had the chance to see the Colosseum, although I don’t go there often. One of the most beautiful things in Rome is the hospitality of the people, and in June, it will be wonderful to compete in front of them.”
Weir reveals the secrets of his discipline: “The most important feature for the shot putter and for any high-level athlete is probably the awareness, the ability to understand yourself, to know how to behave in high-stress situations or under pressure,” Zane explains, “so you have to understand how to act on and off the field.”
Weir, holder of the second all-time Italian performance in the shot put with a measurement of 22.44 meters behind Italian record holder Alessandro Andrei (22.91 meters), knows how to handle delicate moments: “Sometimes the best way is to forget everything else and isolate yourself from what is happening around the platform. You need to focus on the sensations, on the event and gather the right energies.”
Some of them also from his friend and “colleague” Leonardo Fabbri, the other successful Italian shot putter, silver medalist at the World Championships in Budapest and bronze medalist at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, who is ready to participate together with Zane in the upcoming European Athletichs Championships in Rome: the two Italian athletes dream of a night as absolute protagonists in front of the home crowd in the final scheduled on June 7 at the Olympic Stadium.
It’s great to train and work with such a talented and disciplined athlete as Leo,” Weir admits. “It’s a beautiful thing, we compete against each other, but at the same time we collaborate with each other. I feel very lucky. We are trying to open a new era for the shot put in Italy, taking it to a level never reached in history. Working together, we can do it.“
Credit photo: Grana\FIDAL