Golden Gala, a magical night in Rome: Tamberi ready to fly

A new amazing edition of the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea - Presented by IP is coming soon. The main Italian meeting, edition n. 44, the thirteenth stage of the Wanda Diamond League, was presented this morning in Rome, just over a month before the evening event on Friday 30 August. Many of the world stars who will be protagonists at the Paris Olympic Games will compete at the Olimpico, to confirm the results of the Stade de France or to take revenge. Part of the line up, to be completed after the Olympics, was revealed today in the Salone Autorità of the Olympic Stadium by the president of FIDAL Stefano Mei, the CEO of Sport e Salute Diego Nepi Molineris and the meeting director Marco Sicari, in the presence of the partners who support the organizing committee, and of two of the most awaited Italian athletes at the Golden Gala and the Olympics, the hurdler Lorenzo Simonelli and the triple jumper Andy Diaz.

TAMBERI FOR ANOTHER DREAM
He set the Olimpico on fire with an unforgettable performance and show in the European high jump final, rising to 2.37, the current 2024 world lead, and earning a fantastic gold medal. The fans in Rome can once again cheer their idol Gianmarco Tamberi, determined to achieve one of the few victories he still lacks, that of the Golden Gala, up until now a taboo for the Olympic, World and European champion. In five participations he achieved the second place in 2020, third in 2016, 2021 (with 2.33 in Florence) and 2022, fourth in 2019. He will find two of his main opponents for the gold in Paris, the American silver medallist in Budapest JuVaughn Harrison and Hamish Kerr of New Zealand who won world indoor gold medal in Glasgow.

SPRINT WITH TEBOGO AND OMANYALA, HALL IN THE 400m
In the 100 meters, two candidates for the medals in Paris are ready to race: Letsile Tebogo of Botswana reached the podium twice at the World Championships in Budapest, silver in the 100 and bronze in the 200; Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala boasts the second world time of the year with 9.79. In the women's race, 200 meters for the Ivorian Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith, last year winner in Florence in the 100m with 10.97 and in 2018 at the Olimpico in the double distance; the American Mckenzie Long (21.83) and the British Daryll Neita silver medallist at the European Championships. In the 400 meters, Quincy Hall is in great shape, dominating the US Trials and then winning the Diamond League in Monaco with a personal best of 43.80. Italian record holder Luca Sito joins the line up.

MIDDLE DISTANCE, FANTASTIC TSEGAY AND GEBRHIWET
BATTOCLETTI AT THE OLIMPICO AFTER THE TWO GOLDS
One of the super stars of the Golden Gala is the Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, the world record holder in the 5000 meters and world gold medallist in the 10,000m, competing for the occasion in the 1500m race which last year saw the world record thanks to 3:49.11 by Faith Kipyegon (improved in Paris in 3:49.04 on July 7). Tsegay is not far away: in this discipline she is the third woman all-time with the 3:50.30 achieved in Xiamen Diamond League on April 20th. The Irish European champion Ciara Mageean will be attending and the Italian fans can cheer for the ‘queen of Europe’ in the 5000m and 10,000m Nadia Battocletti, on a discipline that she recently attends more often. Even among men, the world record is not that distant: in the 5000 meters the Ethiopian leader of the year Hagos Gebrhiwet missed it by just over a second in Oslo, running in 12:36.73 (record: Joshua Cheptegei 12:35.36 in 2020) and can try again in Rome, in the stadium that hosted the records of Said Aouita and Moses Kiptanui in the past. Following Gebrhiwet in Oslo, the other Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha also did very well (12:38.95) and is confirmed for the Golden Gala, while from Kenya comes the world bronze medallist Jacob Krop.

WHAT AN HURDLES SHOW: SIMONELLI AND TOP WOMEN
In this same stadium, he approached thirteen seconds in the 110m hurdles (13.05) and took the European gold, after the world indoor silver in Glasgow in the 60hs. The Italian Lorenzo Simonelli's growth was also confirmed by second place in the Diamond League in Monaco with 13.08. Among women, in the 100m hurdles, the challenge is between the leader of the year Masai Russell, who has just become the fourth in history with a phenomenal 12.25 at the US Trials, the French gold medallist in Rome Cyrena Samba-Mayela (12.31), the Dutch Nadine Visser (12.36).

FROM THROWS TO JUMPS: HOT FIELD EVENTS AT THE OLIMPICO
In addition to the already announced Andy Diaz (Italy) and Fabrice Hugues Zango (Burkina Faso) in triple and Malaika Mihambo (Germany) and Larissa Iapichino (Italy) in long jump, we can already highlight the presence of the Olympic and World discus champion Daniel Stahl (Sweden), of the Italian shot putter Zane Weir, European indoor champion, and the two-time world indoor gold medallist Tom Walsh from New Zealand, the pole vaulters Nina Kennedy (Australia) world champion in Budapest, Molly Caudery (Great Britain) world indoor gold medallist in Glasgow and Angelica Moser (Switzerland) European champion in Rome.