Rome aims to take over the running of the 2005 world athletics championship from Britain in an attempt to show it is worthy of staging the 2012 Olympics, Italian Athletics Federation president Gianni Gola said yesterday.
International Amateur Athletics Federation president Lamine Diack has ruled out a bid from another British city after the British Government refused to back a proposed development at Pickett's Lock, London, and now the field has been opened to other countries.
Gola hopes Rome can fill the void and believes it could be the passport to a successful attempt by the Eternal City to stage its second summer Olympics after the 1960 Games, considered one of the finest ever.
Rome hosted the world athletics championships in 1987.
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