Golden Gala

Golden Gala is an annual track and field event at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 death of Italian sprinting legend Pietro Mennea, the organizers added his name to the title of the meet.

Golden Gala
The Stadio Olimpico hosts the event
Date	June – August
Location	Rome, Italy
Event type	Track and field
IAAF Cat.	GW[1]
Official site	Diamond League Golden Gala

History

Primo Nebiolo, the Italian president of IAAF since 1981, was the founder of the Golden Gala and had the idea to bring the athletes and the people from the United States and the NATO countries together that were boycotting the Moscow Olympics in 1980 as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Nebiolo died of a heart attack at age 76 in 1999.

At the 2009 edition of the Golden Gala, Kenenisa Bekele, Kerron Stewart, Sanya Richards and Yelena Isinbayeva all remained on target for the 2009 Golden League jackpot.[2] In the 100 m, Tyson Gay equalled his American record and Daniel Bailey set an Antiguan record in the men's race.[3] Antonietta Di Martino brought the sole Italian victory in Rome by beating off favourite Blanka Vlašić in the high jump.[3]

World records

Over the course of its history, eight world records have been set at the Gala. The 1500 metres and Mile records by Hicham El Guerrouj still stand. In 2014 Joanne Pavey's 15:04.87 in the 5000 metres bettered the existing masters world record in the W40 division by almost 16 seconds.

Year	Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality
2008	Pole vault	5.03 m	Yelena Isinbayeva	Russia
2000	Javelin throw	68.22 m	Trine Hattestad	Norway
1999	Mile	3:43.13	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco
1998	1500 m	3:26.00	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco
1995	5000 m	12:55.30	Moses Kiptanui	Kenya
1987	5000 m	12:58.39	Saïd Aouita	Morocco
1984	Pole vault	5.94 m 5.91 m	Sergey Bubka Thierry Vigneron	Soviet Union  France
1983	Pole vault	5.83 m	Thierry Vigneron	France

Meet records

Men

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Ref
100 m	9.75 (+0.9 m/s)	Justin Gatlin	United States	4 June 2015	[4]
200 m	19.70 (+0.7 m/s)	Michael Norman	United States	6 June 2019	[5]
400 m	43.62	Jeremy Wariner	United States	14 July 2006
800 m	1:42.79	Wilson Kipketer	Denmark	7 July 1999
1500 m	3:26.00	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	14 July 1998
Mile	3:43.13	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	7 July 1999
2000 m	4:54.02	Venuste Niyongabo	Burundi	8 June 1995
3000 m	7:46.06	Jack Buckner	Great Britain	31 August 1984
5000 m	12:46.53	Eliud Kipchoge	Kenya	2 July 2004
110 m hurdles	13.01 (+0.8 m/s)	Allen Johnson	United States	7 July 1999
400 m hurdles	47.48	Abderrahman Samba	Qatar	31 May 2018	[6]
3000 m steeplechase	7:54.31	Paul Kipsiele Koech	Kenya	31 May 2012	[7]
High jump	2.41 m	Mutaz Essa Barshim	Qatar	5 June 2014	[8]
Pole vault	5.94 m	Sergey Bubka	Soviet Union	31 August 1984
Long jump	8.61 m (0.0 m/s)	Dwight Phillips	United States	10 July 2009	[9]
Triple jump	17.96 m (-0.4 m/s)	Pedro Pablo Pichardo	Cuba	4 June 2015	[10]
Shot put	21.97 m	Konrad Bukowiecki	Poland	6 June 2019	[11]
Discus throw	68.78 m	Piotr Małachowski	Poland	10 June 2010
Hammer throw	84.88 m	Sergey Litvinov	Soviet Union	10 September 1986
Javelin throw	90.34 m	Andreas Thorkildsen	Norway	14 July 2006
4 × 100 m relay	38.31	Santa Monica Track Club Michael Marsh Leroy Burrell Floyd Heard Carl Lewis	United States	8 June 1994
4 × 400 m relay	3:01.76	Nigel Levine Conrad Williams Chris Clarke Jack Green	Great Britain	31 May 2012	[12]

Women

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Ref
100 m	10.75 (+0.6 m/s)	Marion Jones	United States	14 July 1998
	10.75 (+0.4 m/s)	Kerron Stewart	Jamaica	10 July 2009	[13]
200 m	22.19 (+0.8 m/s)	Marion Jones	United States	7 July 1999
400 m	49.17	Marita Koch	East Germany	10 September 1986
800 m	1:55.69	Pamela Jelimo	Kenya	11 July 2008
1500 m	3:56.22	Sifan Hassan	Netherlands	8 June 2017	[14]
Mile	4:21.38	Paula Ivan	Romania	19 July 1989
3000 m	8:23.96	Olga Yegorova	Russia	29 June 2001
5000 m	14:12.59 DLR	Almaz Ayana	Ethiopia	2 June 2016	[15]
100 m hurdles	12.39 (+1.5 m/s)	Vera Komisova	Soviet Union	5 August 1980
400 m hurdles	52.82	Lashinda Demus	United States	10 June 2010
3000 m steeplechase	9:04.96	Hyvin Jepkemoi	Kenya	31 May 2018	[16]
High jump	2.03 m	Yelena Slesarenko	Russia	2 July 2004	[17]
		Hestrie Cloete	South Africa	2 July 2004	[17]
		Blanka Vlašić	Croatia	10 June 2010
		Chaunté Howard-Lowe	United States	10 June 2010
Pole vault	5.03 m	Yelena Isinbayeva	Russia	13 July 2007
Long jump	7.23 m (−0.3 m/s)	Marion Jones	United States	14 July 1998
Triple jump	15.29 m (+0.3 m/s)	Yamilé Aldama	Cuba	11 July 2003
Shot put	21.03 m DLR	Valerie Adams	New Zealand	31 May 2012	[18]
Discus throw	68.93 m	Sandra Perković	Croatia	31 May 2018	[19]
Javelin throw	68.66 m	Barbora Špotáková	Czech Republic	10 June 2010
4 × 100 m relay	43.64	Nataliya Strohova Yelizaveta Bryzgina Olesya Povh Natalia Pohrebniak	Ukraine	2 June 2016	[20]

See also

• Notturna di Milano
• Rieti meeting

References

1. "IAAF World Ranking Calendar". IAAF. 2019.
2. Powell, David (2009-07-10). Bekele – ‘I’m dreaming about this jackpot’ – ÅF Golden League. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-07-23.
3. Ramsak, Bob (10 July 2009). "IAAF: Gay powers back with 9.77 in Rome – REPORT - ÅF Golden League| News | iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
4. "Golden Gala Pietro Mennea – Men's 100m Results". IAAF. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
5. "IAAF Diamond League – Rome (ITA) – 6th June 2019 – Results – 200m Men" (PDF). IAAF. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
6. "400m Hurdles Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
7. "3000m Steeplechase Men: Results" (PDF). IAAF Diamond League. Omega Timing. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
8. Phil Minshull (5 June 2014). "Barshim soars not shimmies over the bars in Rome – IAAF Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
9. "Long Jump Results" (PDF). goldengala.it. 10 July 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
10. "Golden Gala Pietro Mennea – Men's Triple Jump Results". IAAF. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
11. "IAAF Diamond League – Rome (ITA) – 6th June 2019 – Results – Shot Put Men" (PDF). IAAF. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
12. David Martin (31 May 2012). "Bolt's blazing 9.76 one of seven world leads on electric night in Rome - Samsung Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
13. "100 Metres Results". goldengala.it. 10 July 2009. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
14. "1500m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
15. "5000m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
16. "3000m Steeplechase Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
17. "Golden Gala 2004 Result Book" (PDF). goldengala.it. 2 July 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
18. "Shot Put Women: Results" (PDF). IAAF Diamond League. Omega Timing. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
19. "Discus Throw Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
20. "4×100m Relay Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.

External links

• Diamond League – Rome Official Web Site
• Golden Gala Meeting Records