Rome, 7 April with London 2012 looming over the horizon and as part of a series of ongoing training sessions, CONIs sport and Olympic preparation department, its sports medicine institute and its sports school have run a seminar entitled “Project Talent: search, identification and development.”

In the presence of the Italian under-secretary for sport Rocco Crimi, who confirmed the Italian governments full support, and with the participation of technical directors, trainers, athletes and Olympians, the seminar was opened by CONI president Giovanni Petrucci who underlined the importance of this initiative as a way of allowing Italy to keep its place in the world medal rankings.

CONI secretary general Raffaele Pagnozzi, who is also the secretary general of the EOC, introduced the theme with an analysis of the different approaches to how to develop talent, pointing out the importance of the change of generation, synergy between the world of schools and the world of sport and the work done by sports clubs. “This seminar,” remarked Pagnozzi, “shows how we are committed to transforming what is a natural process into a well structured and well organised one, so as to avoid deadlock, the way youths abandon sport, and by contrast reinforce the potential of the 16 to 20 age group.”

Speakers included Italian and foreign experts, with Mr. Roel Vaeyens from Gand university, Mr. Vladimir Platonov, the rector of Kiev university (Ukraine), and Mr. Charles Gozzoli, from the French athletics federation, speaking about techniques for the development of talent as experienced in their own countries.

The second part of the programme was dedicated to specific aspects presented by Ms. Edda Bartz, head of sports development for the German NOC, and Ms. Chelsea Warr her colleague from the NOC of Great Britain.

The seminar ended with talks on their experience given by experts and technicians from several Italian federations – cycling, swimming basket-ball, fencing and sailing and Italian Olympians, both young and not so young, including Athens 2004 marathon gold medallist Stefano Baldini, three time Olympic diving champion Klaus Dibiasi, Los Angeles 1984 boxing gold medallist Maurizio Stecca, and the Nagano 1998 bob gold medallist Antonio Tartaglia.

Following the recent inaugural Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games last summer, the Rome seminar also attempted to answer the question whether the YOGs will change the way young talent is discovered and trained.