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Giulio Onesti Sports Centre, Rome: the Olympic citadel of Acqua Acetosa
The Giulio Onesti Olympic Preparation Centre (CPO) is the heart of Italian sports in Rome. Located in the Acqua Acetosa area in the northern part of the capital, between the river Tiber and Villa Ada, it serves as a training ground for national teams in the following sports: football, fencing, swimming, gymnastics, rugby, taekwondo, pentathlon, and many others. It also houses the Institute of Medicine and Science of Sport and the anti-doping laboratory.
The man who saved Italian sports
The centre was established in 1954 at the behest of Giulio Onesti, president of CONI (the Italian National Olympic Committee) from 1946 to 1978. When he was appointed, CONI was facing a severe financial crisis. Onesti saved it with a simple idea: Totocalcio (football “pools”, a forecasting contest). Starting in 1948, the proceeds from these betting slips directly funded Italian sports. Thanks to these funds, Italy was able to revitalise its athletic programmes, leading to the staging of the 1956 Cortina Winter Olympics and the 1960 Rome Olympics. The centre was inaugurated in 1960, and named after Onesti in 1982, one year after his death.
Facilities and amenities
The complex features five football pitches, a 50-meter Olympic swimming pool, diving pools, a rugby stadium, arenas for basketball and volleyball, fencing halls, gymnasiums for artistic gymnastics and weightlifting, and a baseball field. Since 1966, it has also been home to the School of Sport, for the training of coaches and sports executives.
