Another global super star joins the cast of the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea on 30th August in Rome. The Paris Olympic champions are now ten, with the confirmation of the queen of the 1500 metres Faith Kipyegon, one of the greatest middle-distance runners ever, who returns to the Italian stage of the Wanda Diamond League after having lit up the last edition of Florence 2023 with a sensational World Record of 3:49.11. The Kenyan arrives in Rome after having won her third consecutive gold medal at the Paris Olympics, a feat that had never happened in the history of this discipline, not even for men. His fantastic palmares also includes four gold medals from the World Championships between 1500 and 5000 metres. For Kipyegon it will be the second presence in the Diamond League this season: in her first race, in Paris on July 7, she improved her World Record set last year in Florence with a time of 3:49.04.
The one in Rome promises to be a spectacular 1500m with the presence of the Italian home heroes Nadia Battocletti, Olympic 10,000m silver, twice gold medallist at the Rome European Championships in June. Battocletti also placed fourth in Paris, in the 5000 metres, when for a couple of hours she had been awarded the bronze after the disqualification of Faith Kipyegon, who was then reinstated and took the silver medal again. In the line-up, with the Ethiopians Diribe Welteji, Birke Haylom, Worknesh Mesele, Nigist Getachew (out Gudaf Tsegay), also there will be Sintayehu Vissa of Italy, who at the Olympics after 42 years with 3:58.11 beat Gabriella Dorio’s 1982 national record, and the other Italian Ludovica Cavalli.
