Golden Gala-Pietro Mennea presents its stars

D’Onofrio, who has returned as Meeting Director after three years, talked about the expectations for tomorrow’s meeting which is expected to be another star-studded event featuring about thirty Olympic medallists from London 2012. D’Onofrio talked about the positive impact of Usain Bolt on the Golden Gala. “Bolt is a great investment for athletics because he allows us to promote athletics not only among athletics fans but also among people who don’t follow athletics everyday. Athletics has had many popular athletes but Bolt is certainly the most popular athlete in history”. The Rome Meeting Director also talked about the positive impact of the partnership between the Fidal and the Coni Servizi. “The partnership with the Italian Olympic Committee is good for the development of the Golden Gala.

As far as far the starting-list for the meeting is concerned, the meeting will feature about 30 Olympic medallists which is a guarantee for a world-class meeting. “Sadly we had some cancellations like Sally Pearson (injured) who was the first athlete to sign up to the meeting and Yuliya Zaripova who originally planned to run a fast time in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. Dejen Gebremeskel will not run the 5000 m. However, it will be a great meeting with world-class competitions like the men’s pole vault, the men’s shot put, the women’s high jump and the clash between Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin.”

The first athletes to meet the media from al lover the world were long jump Olympic and World champion Brittney Reese, triple jump World and Olympic champion Christian Taylor, 100m Olympic bronze medallist Justin Gatlin and three-time 200m, 4×100 and 4×400 Olympic champion Allyson Felix. Justin Gatlin got off to a flying start in this year’s Diamond League winning in Doha in 9.97 and Eugene in a wind-assisted 9.88 and clocked 9.91 in Bejing, the second fastest time in the world this year. He showed his confidence ahead of his much-awaited clash against Bolt despite a difficult trip from the USA to Rome.
“Two flights were cancelled. The season is going on well. I am working on my final 20 metres in training. I had a very emotional year in 2012 with the bronze medal at the Olympic Games. After the Olympics I got food poison and I had to end the season before Linz. I hope this year I will run consistently until the end of the season.” Gatlin will face Usain Bolt for the first time this year. “It will be a great race. Rome will be the stepping stone for the rest of the season. I have already run against Mike Rodgers three times this season and I am looking forward to running against the best sprinters many times.

Brittney Reese jumped 7.25m in the opening leg of the 2013 Diamond League in Doha setting the 13th best performance in history. The US former basketball player, Olympic champion and twice Outdoor and Indoor World champion, was confident ahead of her third appearance in this year’s Diamond League series. “I am hoping to jump 7 metres again. The weather is good. The Rome crowd is always very excited.  I hope to have a good competition in order to be pumped up”

Christian Taylor will be looking to his second win in this year’s Diamond League series in a competition featuring European Indoor champion Daniele Greco and World Indoor record holder Teddy Tamgho. “I had a successful start to the season and I am quite pleased with how things are going on. I am excited to to meet Tamgho here again. I come back to the World Junior Championships in 2008 when he dominated. I am looking forward to competing against him. Competing against the best athletes brings the best out you. I have a great respect for Italian jumper Daniele Greco. He has come up for a while. He is a talented athlete with a great potential. He is also a good person. We met each other last year at the London Crystal Palace".

Allyson Felix will run the 200 m in Rome for the second time. She started her season with 50.19 in her favourite meeting in Doha behind Amantle Montsho and won the 200m in the IAAF World Challenge in Bejing. “I had a different approach compared to last year. The Olympic season was very long. For this reason I took things slowly. This year I am focusing on the 100m and the 200 m this year”.

Anna Chicherova set the world seasonal best clearing 2.02 in Bejing and is looking forward to meeting Blanka Vlasic again after such a long time. “I watched Blanka clearing 1.94 in New York. She looked perfect despite the conditions. I remember that when I came back from injury I competed in rainy conditions".

Blanka Vlasic returned to competitions on 25th May in rainy New York where she jumped 1.94 in difficult weather conditions.
“It was nice to be able to compete again after 20 months of absence despite the rain and the cold temperatures. It will take time to be able to jump without feeling pain. I missed the feeling of competitions. I remember every moment of the Olympic final in London and I felt emotional when Anna Chicherova won the Olympic title. I did not feel disappointed but I told me that I was not ready to compete there. I had a mixed  feeling.  In New York it was so cold. I am now confident. I heard that Ariane Friedrich is also starting to jump again. I am happy because the high jump is a powerful event. It is good to have as many good jumpers as possible". Both Chicherova and Vlasic had good words for Italian rising star Alessia Trost who jumped 2.00 m during the indoor season and said that the young Italian has a great potential for the future. “I expected Alessia to win a medal but she is young. She has a great potential and is jumping steadily. She needs more time”, said Chicherova. “She needs more years and patience. It’s better to reach a good level step by step.It took me time to jump consistently at high level. When I jumped 2 metres for the first time it took time to be consistent over this barrier”, said Vlasic

Renaud Lavillenie beat Germans Bjorn Otto and Raphael Holzdeppe in Eugene setting the world seasonal best of 5.95. and will square off against the Germans in Rome. “In Rome I have always found a good atmosphere and the right conditions to get good results. I have a good relationship with the German guys. There are at least six jumpers able to fight for the podium in Moscow. This is good for the event. The competition helps to keep the pressure to jump high. I am not surprised about the result results of Bjorn Otto. He wamts to beat me everytime. This is good for my motivation".  Lavillenie talked about his passion for motorcycling. “I have a lot of pressure during competitions. It’s good for me to do something else and forget pole vault. It’s a good distraction”

The third and last group of athletes who met journalist was the Italian trio formed by Italian 2.00 m jumper Alessia Trost, reigning World Junior champion, Daniele Greco, European Indoor champion in Gothemburg last March, and Veronica Borsi, the fresh Italian 100m hurdles record holder with 12.76 set in Orvieto last weekend. Greco is thrilled to make his debut in the Golden Gala against Christian Taylor. “It is a great feeling to compete in Italy and especially in Rome. It’s very special to compete in this meeting dedicated to Pietro Mennea, who came from my region. I had some injury problems but I did my best to be able to compete in Rome. I want to do well tomorrow and thrill the Rome crowd. The big goal is Moscow but I need important tests before the World Championships. My big goal is to reach the 18 metres. This is a magic barrier only two men were able to break.  For me Jonathan Edwards is the role model. When I started with triple jump I watched videos of Edwards on the Internet to learn the secrets of this discipline. He is the best triple jumper in history. I did not start as a triple jumper but with sprint. At the beginning I  beat my friends in local sprint competitions.”

Alessia Trost will meet her role model Blanka Vlasic for the first time in her young career.  “For me the high jump is Blanka Vlasic. She has been my role model since I started with athletics. When I saw her coming out of the elevator, I was so thrilled. Competing against her and other athletes I watched on TV only some years ago  is a big bonus. It’s something that makes me feel over the moon. I have already competed against Anna Chicherova last year in Banska Bystrika. After a good indoor season, I want to confirm these results outdoors. After jumping 2 metres has changed my life.  It turned everything completely but I am now learning to deal with this new situation. I am more mature. I am still enjoying my training and all the feelings only this sport can give me".

Veronica Borsi, the European Indoor bronze medallist in the 60 m hurdles with the Italian record of 7.94, will fulfil her lifetime dream to compete in Rome in front of her family and friends. “For me the Golden Gala is a dream come true after some difficult years due to a serious injury. When I started with athletics I watched the stars competing from the stands. The Italian record came as a surprise, as I went to Orvieto just to make a training test. Tomorrow there will be three Italian hurdlers (the other two are Marzia Caravelli and Micol Cattaneo) against the best specialists in the world. I hope that we will be able to confirm the good level of Italian hurdles and run close to the best specialists in the world. I  face this race with a smile in the face. In 2005 I suffered from a serious Achilles tendon injury. I needed a lot of patience and a lot of support from my coach and my family. The most beautiful day in my life was when the doctor who operated me told that the operation went well. The injury was a big burden. I thought about retiring from athletics. I am more mature and this has helped me to overcome all sorts of difficulties and to face ten hurdles when I compete”.

Tickets – The tickets to attend the 2013 edition of the Golden Gala are available in allTicketone shops and online on www.ticketone.it. Ticketone is ticketing partner of the 2013 Golden Gala (in the sport section or seeking Golden Gala on the search engine on the Ticketone website. Ticket prices are as follows (pre-sell fee not included: Monte Mario Main Stand (100 m starting-line) 40 Euros, Tribuna Tevere 20 Euros, Distinti Arrivi 15 Euros; Curve and Distinti 5 Euros.

The Golden Gala pass – This year all athletics fans will have the chance to attend the Golden Gala moving around the different sections of the Stadium using a special Golden Gala Pass. The Golden Gala pass can be bought at only 30 Euros on Ticketone and will give the access to the following reserved seats: Curva Sud Sector 19, Distinti Sud Est sector 22, Tribuna Tevere sector 40, Distinti Nord Est sector 45, Curva Nord sector 48, Distinti Nord Ovest sector 51.

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