The School of Sport, one of the Italian Olympic Committee’s jewels, has this week celebrated its 50th anniversary. It was indeed 1966 when CONI’s iconic President Giulio Onesti gave birth to the institution that over the years has been able to bring prestige to the Italian sports movement, laying the foundations for a tradition that has become a source of pride and an example to the world.

The opening meeting last Wednesday was attended CONI President Malagò (who a few hours earlier had left the other major event of the day, the Vatican-UN-IOC global conference on “Sport and Faith”) and CONI Secretary General Roberto Fabbricini, many Sport Masters (former students from the first years of the School now sports leaders in different positions), sports representatives, athletes, and media.

Director of the School Rossana Ciuffetti played host to the distinguished audience, among them European Olympic Committees Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi on behalf of the continental association.

The week’s activities reflect the School’s vocation towards study, research, exchanges, and the propagation of knowledge that has always characterized it. Of note is also the Exhibition on Art and Sport, staged jointly with the Italian Olympic Academy.

Onesti, who was convinced that the development of Italian sport could only be achieved through education and culture, put the school at the Acquacetosa Sports Complex, built for the Rome 1960 Olympic Games. The School began by providing training for Sport Masters, and later on specialization and updating for technical staff and many other professions in the world of sport, as well as contributing to the progress in research, with the aim of applying the results drawn from various scientific disciplines to sport.

Many champions who have attended the school, as well as coaches, researchers, scientists, professionals and educators, have contributed to the growth of this institution.

Across the years, the School of Sport has gathered a considerable library, which President Malagò intends to increase and open to the general public in the near future.