Golden Gala
Stadio Olimpico 2008.JPG
The Stadio Olimpico hosts the event
DateJune – August
LocationRome, Italy Italy
Event typeTrack and field
World Athletics Cat.GW[1]
Official siteDiamond League Golden Gala

Golden Gala is an annual track and field event normally held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 death of Italian sprinting legend Pietro Mennea, the organizers added his name to the title of the meet.

The 2021 event was temporarily relocated to Florence.[2]

History

Primo Nebiolo, the Italian president of IAAF since 1981, was the founder of the Golden Gala and had the idea to bring the athletes and the people from the United States and the NATO countries together that were boycotting the Moscow Olympics in 1980 as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Nebiolo died of a heart attack at age 76 in 1999.

At the 2009 edition of the Golden Gala, Kenenisa Bekele, Kerron Stewart, Sanya Richards and Yelena Isinbayeva all remained on target for the 2009 Golden League jackpot.[3] In the 100 m, Tyson Gay equalled his American record and Daniel Bailey set an Antiguan record in the men's race.[4] Antonietta Di Martino brought the sole Italian victory in Rome by beating off favourite Blanka Vlašić in the high jump.[4]

World records

Over the course of its history, eight world records have been set at the Gala. The 1500 metres and Mile records by Hicham El Guerrouj still stand. In 2014 Joanne Pavey's 15:04.87 in the 5000 metres bettered the existing masters world record in the W40 division by almost 16 seconds.

Year Event Record Athlete Nationality
2008 Pole vault 5.03 m Yelena Isinbayeva  Russia
2000 Javelin throw 68.22 m Trine Hattestad  Norway
1999 Mile 3:43.13 Hicham El Guerrouj  Morocco
1998 1500 m 3:26.00 Hicham El Guerrouj  Morocco
1995 5000 m 12:55.30 Moses Kiptanui  Kenya
1987 5000 m 12:58.39 Saïd Aouita  Morocco
1984 Pole vault 5.94 m
5.91 m 		Sergey Bubka
Thierry Vigneron 		 Soviet Union
 France
1983 Pole vault 5.83 m Thierry Vigneron  France

Meet records

Men

Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Ref
100 m 9.75 (+0.9 m/s) Justin Gatlin  United States 4 June 2015 [5]
200 m 19.70 (+0.7 m/s) Michael Norman  United States 6 June 2019 [6]
400 m 43.62 Jeremy Wariner  United States 14 July 2006
800 m 1:42.79 Wilson Kipketer  Denmark 7 July 1999
1500 m 3:26.00 WR Hicham El Guerrouj  Morocco 14 July 1998
Mile 3:43.13 WR Hicham El Guerrouj  Morocco 7 July 1999
2000 m 4:54.02 Venuste Niyongabo  Burundi 8 June 1995
3000 m 7:26.64 DLR Jacob Kiplimo  Uganda 17 September 2020 [7]
5000 m 12:46.53 Eliud Kipchoge  Kenya 2 July 2004
110 m hurdles 13.01 (+0.8 m/s) Allen Johnson  United States 7 July 1999
13.01 (-0.1 m/s) Omar McLeod  Jamaica 10 June 2021 [8]
400 m hurdles 47.07 Karsten Warholm  Norway 17 September 2020 [9]
3000 m steeplechase 7:54.31 Paul Kipsiele Koech  Kenya 31 May 2012 [10]
High jump 2.41 m Mutaz Essa Barshim  Qatar 5 June 2014 [11]
Pole vault 6.15 m OWB Armand Duplantis  Sweden 17 September 2020 [12]
Long jump 8.61 m (0.0 m/s) Dwight Phillips  United States 10 July 2009 [13]
Triple jump 17.96 m (-0.4 m/s) Pedro Pablo Pichardo  Cuba 4 June 2015 [14]
Shot put 21.97 m Konrad Bukowiecki  Poland 6 June 2019 [15]
Discus throw 68.78 m Piotr Małachowski  Poland 10 June 2010
Hammer throw 84.88 m Sergey Litvinov  Soviet Union 10 September 1986
Javelin throw 90.34 m Andreas Thorkildsen  Norway 14 July 2006
4 × 100 m relay 38.31 Santa Monica Track Club
Michael Marsh
Leroy Burrell
Floyd Heard
Carl Lewis 		 United States 8 June 1994
4 × 400 m relay 3:01.76 Nigel Levine
Conrad Williams
Chris Clarke
Jack Green 		 Great Britain 31 May 2012 [16]

Women

Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Ref
100 m 10.75 (+0.6 m/s) Marion Jones  United States 14 July 1998
10.75 (+0.4 m/s) Kerron Stewart  Jamaica 10 July 2009 [17]
200 m 22.06 (+0.2 m/s) Dina Asher-Smith  United Kingdom 10 June 2021 [18]
400 m 49.17 Marita Koch  East Germany 10 September 1986
800 m 1:55.69 Pamela Jelimo  Kenya 11 July 2008
1500 m 3:53.63 Sifan Hassan  Netherlands 10 June 2021 [19]
Mile 4:21.38 Paula Ivan  Romania 19 July 1989
3000 m 8:23.96 Olga Yegorova  Russia 29 June 2001
5000 m 14:12.59 DLR Almaz Ayana  Ethiopia 2 June 2016 [20]
100 m hurdles 12.38 (-0.8 m/s) Jasmine Camacho-Quinn  Puerto Rico 10 June 2021 [21]
400 m hurdles 52.82 Lashinda Demus  United States 10 June 2010
3000 m steeplechase 9:04.96 Hyvin Jepkemoi  Kenya 31 May 2018 [22]
High jump 2.03 m Yelena Slesarenko  Russia 2 July 2004 [23]
Hestrie Cloete  South Africa 2 July 2004 [23]
Blanka Vlašić  Croatia 10 June 2010
Chaunté Howard-Lowe  United States 10 June 2010
Pole vault 5.03 m WR Yelena Isinbayeva  Russia 13 July 2007
Long jump 7.23 m (−0.3 m/s) Marion Jones  United States 14 July 1998
Triple jump 15.29 m (+0.3 m/s) Yamilé Aldama  Cuba 11 July 2003
Shot put 21.03 m DLR Valerie Adams  New Zealand 31 May 2012 [24]
Discus throw 68.93 m Sandra Perković  Croatia 31 May 2018 [25]
Javelin throw 68.66 m Barbora Špotáková  Czech Republic 10 June 2010
4 × 100 m relay 43.64 Nataliya Strohova
Yelizaveta Bryzgina
Olesya Povh
Natalia Pohrebniak 		 Ukraine 2 June 2016 [26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "IAAF World Ranking Calendar". IAAF. 2019.
  2. ^ "Strong Wanda Diamond League 2021 season takes shape in Olympic year". IDL Diamond League. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  3. ^ Powell, David (2009-07-10). Bekele – ‘I’m dreaming about this jackpot’ – ÅF Golden League. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-07-23.
  4. ^ a b Ramsak, Bob (10 July 2009). "IAAF: Gay powers back with 9.77 in Rome – REPORT - ÅF Golden League| News | iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Golden Gala Pietro Mennea – Men's 100m Results". IAAF. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  6. ^ "IAAF Diamond League – Rome (ITA) – 6th June 2019 – Results – 200m Men" (PDF). IAAF. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  7. ^ Nicole Jeffery (17 September 2020). "Duplantis scales 6.15m in Rome, world's highest ever outdoor vault". World Athletics. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  8. ^ Nicole Jeffery (10 June 2021). "Ingebrigtsen beats top 5000m field to show superb form in Florence". World Athletics. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  9. ^ "400m Hurdles Result" (PDF). sportresult.com. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  10. ^ "3000m Steeplechase Men: Results" (PDF). IAAF Diamond League. Omega Timing. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ Phil Minshull (5 June 2014). "Barshim soars not shimmies over the bars in Rome – IAAF Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  12. ^ Nicole Jeffery (17 September 2020). "Duplantis scales 6.15m in Rome, world's highest ever outdoor vault". World Athletics. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Long Jump Results" (PDF). goldengala.it. 10 July 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  14. ^ "Golden Gala Pietro Mennea – Men's Triple Jump Results". IAAF. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  15. ^ "IAAF Diamond League – Rome (ITA) – 6th June 2019 – Results – Shot Put Men" (PDF). IAAF. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  16. ^ David Martin (31 May 2012). "Bolt's blazing 9.76 one of seven world leads on electric night in Rome - Samsung Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  17. ^ "100 Metres Results". goldengala.it. 10 July 2009. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  18. ^ Nicole Jeffery (10 June 2021). "Ingebrigtsen beats top 5000m field to show superb form in Florence". World Athletics. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  19. ^ Nicole Jeffery (10 June 2021). "Ingebrigtsen beats top 5000m field to show superb form in Florence". World Athletics. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  20. ^ "5000m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  21. ^ Nicole Jeffery (10 June 2021). "Ingebrigtsen beats top 5000m field to show superb form in Florence". World Athletics. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  22. ^ "3000m Steeplechase Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  23. ^ a b "Golden Gala 2004 Result Book" (PDF). goldengala.it. 2 July 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  24. ^ "Shot Put Women: Results" (PDF). IAAF Diamond League. Omega Timing. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.[permanent dead link]
  25. ^ "Discus Throw Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  26. ^ "4×100m Relay Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.

External links

Golden Gala
Diamond League
Categories