The 34th edition of the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, the fourth leg of the 2014 IAAF Diamond League, will be highlighted by a star-studded field which features high jumpers Bohdan Bondarenko from the Ukraine) and ivan Ukhov from Russia, sprinters Justin Gatlin from the USA and Shelly Ann Fraser from Jamaica, 400m sprinter Lashawn Merritt, Ethiopian middle-distance runner Genzebe Dibaba, Kenyan middle-distance runners Asbel Kiprop and Ezekiel Kemboi. The Rome meeting also features Italian top athletes Marco Fassinotti (high jump), Fabrizio Donato and Daniele Greco (triple jump), Marzia Caravelli (100m hurdles), Andrew Howe (200m) and Matteo Galvan (400m).
The Olympic Stadium in Rome will play host to the 34th edition of the Golden Gala, which started in 1980 after the Moscow Olympic Games. For the second year the Rome meeting will be dedicated to the memory of Pietro Mennea. It’s the fourth leg of the IAAF Diamond League, which kicked off on 9th May in Doha.
The meeting was officially presented to the media during a press conference at the Olympic Stadium in Rome by the FIDAL President Alfio Giomi, the CONI Vice President Luciano Buonfiglio, the CONI Servizi President Franco Chimenti and Managing Director Alberto Miglietta, Rome City Sport Councillor Luca Pancalli. The press conference was also attended by the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea General Director Diego Nepi Molineris, the Meeting Director Luigi D’Onofrio, Miss Italy Giulia Arena, the Meeting Ambassadodor and some Italian top athletes Marzia Caravelli (Aeronautica), who will run the 100m hurdles on 5th June, triple jumper Fabrizio Donato (Fiamme Gialle), 400 metres sprinter Matteo Galvan (400m) and Andrew Howe (Aeronautica) who will run the 200 metres.
The men’s high jump will be in the spotlight on 5th June. On the runway of the Olympic Stadium, where Stefka Kostadinova set the women’s high jump world record clearing 2.09m in 1987 all the best five high jumpers at the moment will square off in what promises to be a fantastic competition. The line-up will feature World champion Bohdan Bondarenko, who cleared 2.40 on 11th May in Tokyo, Derek Drouin from Canada, bronze medallist at both the 2012 Olympic Games and 2013 World Championships, who cleared 2.40 in Des Moines on 25t April, Mutaz Barshim from Qatar, who won the World Indoor title in Sopot and cleared 2.40 last year, 2008 Olympic champion Andrey Silnov and Denis Tsyplakov and Aleksey Dmitrik, who cleared 2.40 indoors last winter, Olympic silver Erik Kynard, Ukraine’s Andrei Protsenko, World Indoor bronze medallist in Sopot and Italian Indoor record holder Marco Fassinotti, who cleared 2.34m this year and reached the final at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, It will be an Olympic final in the season when the best jumpers will chase the World record held by Cuban Javier Sotomayor who cleared 2.45 in 1993, but it will not overshadow the other events.
The starting list features eight London 2012 Olympic gold medallists and 11 reigning World champions of Moscow 2013. In the 100m US Justin Gatlin, World silver and Olympic bronze and the only sprinter able to beat USain Bolt last year at the Rome’s Olympic Stadium. Gatlin will take on Jamaican sprinters Nesta Carter and Kemar Bailey Cole and Sopot World Indoor champion Richard Kilty from Great Britain. The women’s 100 metres sprinter will be highlighted by Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, the most successful sprinter in the recent years and reigning World champion in the 60m, the 100m, 200m and 4x100 relay
Middle distance races will be headlined by Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba, triple world indoor record holder in the 1500m, the 3000m and the 2 miles last winter, who will run the 5000m on 5th June, Kenyan Asbel Kiprop, reigning World champion in Moscow 2013, who ran a sub 3:30 time in Doha on 9th June and will face World Indoor champion Ayanleh Souleiman from Gibuti, and 3000m steeplechase best runner Ezekiel Kemboi, double Olympic champion in Athens 2004 and London 2012 and reigning triple World champion. The other stars who will highligh the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meeting are Lashawn Merritt, 400m World champion in Moscow 2013, Christian Taylor, 2012 Olympic golde medallist in London, German Robert Harting, reigning Olympic champion in London 2012 and World champion in Moscow 2013, London Olympic champion Sally Pearson who will face Moscow 2013 World champion Brianna Rollins, New Zealand legend Valerie Adams, the most successful shot putter and reigning Olympic and World Indoor and Outdoor champion
There will be a lot of promotional events aimed at attracring the crowd to the Olympic Stadium (more than 50000 spectators attended the last two editions of the meeting). The traditional Palio dei Comuni, a promotional race supported by Kinder + Sport, will involve two thousand students representing more than 150 teams from all parts of Italy The other event will be the Golden Gala per l’atletica (Golden Gala for athletics) will be aimed at the clubs associated to the FIDAL (Italian Athletics Federation).
<link http: www.fidal.it upload files goldengala entry_list_goldengalapietromennea2014-12.05.pdf>Entry List (12.05.2014)
<link http: www.ticketone.it>TICKETS
<link http: www.diamondleague-rome.com live-startlistsresults overview>GOLDEN GALA "Pietro Mennea" 2014 - /Timetable
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13 May, 2014
