Alessio Punzi

Head of Road Running & Mass Participation, World Athletics
Alessio is the head of Road Running and Mass Participation at the World Athletics, the organisation recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the world governing body for the sport. Alessio serves as the main point of contact between the World Athletics network (head office and 214 affiliated national athletics associations) and the broader running / mass participation ecosystem (road race organisers, athletes’ agents, associations for trail, mountain and ultra-running, etc.). His main duty is to ensure that the World Athletics policies, regulations and events reflect the realities and needs of a fast-changing sport and create sustained value for its constituents.Alessio manages the “World Athletics Label Road Races” programme, a scheme which started off as an event certification exercise (110+ races in 2018) and gathers now the world’s best road races. 11 years into making, the multi-tier World Athletics Label scheme is now widely recognised as the global calendar of road racing. With its ties with the World Athletics World Rankings and the World Athletics Anti-doping Regulations, the Label programme is a major tool towards a more understandable, credible sport.Alessio also coordinates the World Athtletics road race measurement activities (400+ measured and certified races per year), and manages a 23-people strong panel of super-experts in marathons and road races to assist in the global development of the sport. He also coordinates the work of various advisory bodies to the World Athletics in masters’ athletics and mass participation.He a Lausanne School of Sports Administration graduate, and prior to World Athletics he worked for European Athletics, International Cycling Union, Rome Marathon and Rock ‘n’ Roll Liverpool Marathon.