Golden Gala: a 100m show in Rome with Jacobs, Kerley, Thompson, Tebogo

Four sprinters who were part of the 100m final in Paris Olympics will meet again in Rome, on August 30th, on the occasion of the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, the Italian leg of the Wanda Diamond League circuit: silver medallist Kishane Thompson (Jamaica), bronze medallist Fred Kerley (United States), fifth placer Marcell Jacobs (who was Olympic gold in Tokyo three years ago), and sixth placer Letsile Tebogo (Botswana, who then won the 200 meters final at the Stade de France). Together with them, Rome’s race will also see the participation of other sprint superstars such as US Christian Coleman, and Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala. Completing the cast, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Japan), Ackeem Blake (Jamaica), Chituru Ali (Italy).

The memories will return to the evening of Sunday 4 August, when an extraordinary 100m final took place in Paris. The seasonal World leader Thompson (who ran 9.77 back in June this year) lost by just five thousandths of a second to US Noah Lyles (both clocking 9.79), just two hundredths of a second better than Kerley (bronze in 9.81), followed by Jacobs (9.85) and Tebogo (9.86). Omanyala missed the Olympic final, but this year was able to run in 9.79, with Coleman reaching a SB of 9.86. Essentially, the Rome race will see the presence of six men with season bests of 9.86 and below.

For Fred Kerley it will be a return to the Golden Gala after the victories of the last two seasons: US superstar triumphed in 2022 at the Olimpico in Rome with 9.92, and at the Ridolfi Stadium in Florence in 2023 (9.94). Marcell Jacobs will come back to Rome less than three months after the gold medal at the European Championships, won with a time of 10.02 ahead of the other Italian Chituru Ali (10.05).