In the business of mass participation sports since 2008, Alessio Punzi is head of running at World Athletics, the world governing body for the No. 1 Olympic sport. He supervises all programmes and processes that relate to out-of-stadium running – from competition management and calendars to course measurement and certification, from campaigns to running esports, from masters to trail running – and in general for all relationships with the running industry. Also, he’s responsible for the mass participation piece of various World Athletics Championships. Punzi has previously held positions in marketing, competitions and development at European Athletics, UCI, the Rome Marathon, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Liverpool Marathon and the European Cyclists’ Federation. He has a bachelor in media studies, MSc in sport management and communication, postgrad in sports administration and technology at Lausanne's IOC-founded AISTS Academy.