It will start at exactly 10:01 a.m.: the same figures as the time he ran in Mexico City in '79 and which until five seasons ago remained the Italian 100-meter record. But they are also the digits of the years without Pietro (10) and of the number that distinguishes him: the number 1.

The legend Pietro Mennea will be remembered this morning, March 21, at the Stadio dei Marmi, the facility named after him: it is the embrace of Rome and all of Italy with the ceremony "Pietro Mennea, the Man and the Champion" on the tenth anniversary of his passing.

Institutions, historic Italian athletes and lifelong friends but also many fans, called together by Manuela Olivieri Mennea, Pietro's wife, will gather at the Foro Italico to remember the Italian sports legend, 1980 Moscow Olympic champion and world record holder for seventeen years in the 200 meters thanks to the memorable 19.72 in Mexico City."

The ceremony will be an opportunity to sketch Mennea's human side and to recall the sporting exploits of an athlete who is the very symbol of sporting values, commitment, the possibility of dreaming and challenging one's limits to achieve epochal results. A ceremony, also on Tuesday, March 21 (10:30 a.m.), is also scheduled in Barletta, Puglia, Pietro's hometown. At the top of the Salita del Vaglio, an uphill stretch that often hosted Mennea's training sessions, a commemorative plaque honoring the city's most famous champion will be unveiled.