Larissa Iapichino becomes an avatar for the 2024 European Championships: “Ready to jump into the Metaverse”

Larissa Iapichino she has always been ahead. Even if she remains an Under 23, she logically won the European champion last weekend in Espoo, she already beats the best in the world like Mihambo And Spanovic in the most prestigious meetings. But while waiting to fly to the absolute World Championships in Budapest in August, he took a leap into a parallel world that already exists and could not have a better interpreter for athletics: the Metaverse. She will be the 21-year-old coached by her father Gianni Iapichino and daughter of Fiona May the first athlete to enter the Metaverse, not only as an official testimonial: she will transform into an avatar for the project linked to the European Athletics Championships in Rome (from 7 to 12 June 2024). A synergy between the EuroRoma 2024 Foundation and society XMetaReal, which aims to bring the event to life long before it happens. Transporting it from September, nine months before the start, into a virtual world which however will reproduce it almost perfectly. Indeed, in some cases creating scenarios that cannot be accessed when you live a championship in person. The long platform of Larissa, for example, walked on months in advance in an immersive experience, never experienced before for a sporting event in Italy. A dimension defined as “phygital”, in which it will be possible to find out where the key places of the European Championships will be (jumps, throws), and perhaps book the ideal place in the stadium to follow the favorite competitions.

“I can’t wait to jump into the Rome 2024 Metaverse and use my avatar to meet other visitors” is the vision of Larissa Iapichino, who before those championships already wants to have won other titles after silver at the European indoor championships in Istanbul and the European team championships in Poland. “The virtual world can represent a positive opportunity to bring new people closer to athletics, especially young people, expanding the audience of spectators even in reality”. Passionate reader, law student, Larissa uses social media sparingly but she is very curious about worlds that will naturally take up more and more space in the coming years. “It is an honor for me to participate in such an innovative project, in which technology will allow Europeans to intercept and exploit new trends in society”.

Connected users from all over the world will be able to visit Rome 2024 using an avatar, moving from one place to another with teleportation. Not only the inside of the Olympic stadium, but also the avenues and squares of the Foro Italico park. Or the Commercial Village, where digital stores will be opened waiting for the real ones next year. For the journey, it will be possible to start from mobile and fixed devices, but those who put down a VR viewer designed for Virtual Reality will be able to enjoy an even more immersive experience”.

Ready to take off into the virtual world, Larissa doesn’t forget that her goal is to land in the real world, where a tub of sand, and possibly a medal, awaits her.