The 2017 edition of the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, the fourth leg of the IAAF Diamond League, which will be held on 8th June at the Rome Olympic Satdium, was presented today. The press conference was attended by CONI President Giovanni Malagò and Fidal President Alfio Giomi. No less than 17 Olympic gold medallists (10 winners of Rio de Janeiro), 44 world champions (11 reigning world champions, including 20 world indoor champions) and 58 European champions (10 reigning gold medallists and 23 European Indoor champions). The athletics history is set to write another exciting chapter.
Giovanni Malagò, Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) President: In Italy we have different offers with 384 sports disciplines and it’s fully evolving. Athletics is the base of all sports and we have a key four-year period ahead to achieve progressive results from now until 2020. This is a tough challenge, but we are aware of our responsabilities and we want to take them together. In other countries a Federation does not often organize a meeting together with the Olympic Committee. In Italy this is possible because we have a know-how, which is recognized, and CONI is important also thanks to the Golden Gala”
Alfio Giomi, FIDAL President: “It was not easy to put together a high-level line-up, but we have managed to do it thanks to new partners, the excellent work of Meeting Director Luigi D’Onofrio and the strong partnership with CONI Servizi. The Golden Gala returns to the past to look to the future. The Golden Gala was born in 1980 after the Moscow Olympic Games as a re-match of athletes, who were forced to miss the olympic competitions. This year the meeting marks the come-back of two Russian athletes Sergey Shubenkov in the 110m hurdles and Mariya Kuchina in the high jump, who are both reigning world champions. This is an important message, perhaps not with the same impact as in 1980, but we are proud to welcome back two athletes, who get out of the storm, which involved their country. I wish the Golden Gala will show the positive image of a growing Italian athletics to spectators. There is not only the experience of Fabrizio Donato and Andrew Howe, who have the same enthusiasm as youth athletes, but also Alessia Trost in the high jump and we are curious to see 18-year-old Filippo Tortu for the first time on the International stage against the best 200m sprinters. The Golden Gala is the highlight of Italian athletics, which has had an exponential growth in the number of members. We also remind an initiative launched by the Fiamme Gialle, which will involve 50 young people from Amatrice to attend the meeting, bringing the world of sport close to a tragedy, which has not ended yet.
Alberto Miglietta, Managing Director of CONI Servizi: “Our mission is to export the excellence of the Italian Olympic Committee in support of the Federations. We are proud to carry it on with the Golden Gala, making the know-how and the resources available, and to create a sinergy with the events: the rugby Six Nations, the Tennis Internazionali d’Italia, the Trophy Settecolli swimming meeting. This year we have a partnership with the horseshow meeting in Piazza di Siena.
Luigi D’Onofrio, Meeting Director of the Golden Gala: “The meeting lives up to the tradition of the past editions, although we have to take our resources into account. I think that our meeting fullfils the standards of quality of the Diamond League from both the organizational point of view and the athletes’s cast. Considering it as one of the many athletics meetings could be a problem, but it was not the case, considering that the meeting is broadcast in 160 countries and the meeting deserves a further effort. All competitions will have a high level, but some of them will be more spectacular than others. We happy to invite again Justin Gatlin in the 100m in Rome. Canadian rising sprint star André De Grasse will be in the spotlight in the 200 metres. There are not only many olympic gold medallists, but also more than 10 world under 20 champions, like US sprinter Noah Lyles, who beat Filippo Tortu in the most recent World Under 20 Championships. Besides the best athletes in the world, we want to offer a first important stage for young athletes. Some head-to-head battles will be very interesting: a mouth-watering race is the women’s 1500m with Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon and emerging star Laura Muir. The women’s 5000m will feature a clash between middle-distance world record holders Genzebe Dibaba and Almaz Ayana”.
Fabio Pagliara, General Secretary of the Fidal: “Athletics lives for 365 days a year and for this reason we hold the Runfest, the athletics party in the week which builds up to the Golden Gala in the Foro Italico Park from 3rd June to 8th June. This is a party for everyone and for every age, with a range of activities from the master athletics to children, who will have the chance to try sprint, from workshops to the Food District, to the new addition of the outdoor cinema. It will be a way to stay together and give a full picture of what athletics is about”.
Fabrizio Donato: “My debut as coach at the Golden Gala is really exciting. For the first time I will follow Andrew Howe from the stands. I coach him and it will be funny. We are working on details, which he had lost during the years, like the ability to bounce. He told me: “Why don’t you let me try a triple jump competition ?” I replied to him: “Not for the moment. You will try it when you will be able to amaze the world.”. I ask him just to jump with the smile and to have fun. He has already sent a message during the indoor season. We have started again with the same enthusiasm to return to the form of the best years”.
Andrew Howe: “We will amaze the world when it is the right moment. I like listening to Fabrizio. I look up to him as a person and as a coach. I always try to take something from him to improve myself. This is what I do every day by working together”.
Manuela Olivieri Mennea: “I keep with love the medal that Pietro received at the first edition of the Golden Gala, where he showed that he had really deserved that Olympic gold medal and it was worth a lot. The Golden Gala had the first thought when Pietro passed away and for me this means a lot”.
Luca Bacherotti, Managing Director of Asics Italia: “We have worked together with the FIDAL since 1994 and today we confirm our partnership for the next five years. From this year Asics is technical sponsor of the IAAF. This a double role, which gives us more responsibliity to lead us to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where we will be the Gold Partner in Japan, where our brand is based. I have always seen the bar raised and we want to enable the highest number of athletes raise it”.
Stefano Parisi, managing director Bridgestone Europe South Region: “For me it’s a personal pleasure, as I practised athletics as a teenager first in middle-distance and then in the 400m hurdles, and I have a great memory of that period. In 2014 Bridgestone chose to become partner of the Olympic Movement until 2024, for an experience, which is born from sharing common values. Locally we have launched “Pursue your dream, do not give up here”, a motivational campaign which aims at inspiring everyone to reach their own goals, with testimonials like Gianmarco Tamberi, Valeria Straneo and Gregorio Paltrinieri, who have been chosen for their sports results but also for their particular stories. We will be the partners of the Golden Gala, we wiil be present at the Runfest and we will be the title sponsor of the Palio dei Comuni, the 12x200 relay for young Secondary School students”.
Patrizio Gonzaga, marketing and media director of Co.Ge.Di: “Uliveto mineral water has been involved in the world of sport for more than 20 years and we think that it is suitable for sportspersons. We have chosen to support the Golden Gala and the FIDAL, as athletics is one of the main sports disciplines, even at amateur level”
