Eight Olympic gold medallists from the Paris Games are set to compete at the Golden Gala in Rome on Friday, August 30, as the Italian capital hosts the 13th Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season.

This illustrious group includes world record-holders Faith Kipyegon and Ryan Crouser, sprinter Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, Bahraini steeplechaser Winfred Yavi, Jamaican discus thrower Roje Stona, US sprint hurdler Masai Russell, Australian pole vaulter Nina Kennedy, and US long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall.

Faith Kipyegon Returns to the Scene of Her Record

Faith Kipyegon will make her return to the meeting where she set her first world 1500m record. This year’s Golden Gala returns to its traditional venue in Rome, having been held in Florence last year. Kipyegon, who won her third consecutive Olympic 1500m title in Paris, broke her own Games record with a time of 3:51.29—just two seconds short of the world record of 3:49.04 that she set earlier this year at the Diamond League meeting in Paris.

Kipyegon will be joined in Rome by Australian Jess Hull, who finished second to her in both her world record run and at the Olympic Games. The field also features world indoor champion Freweyni Hailu and fellow Ethiopian Birke Haylom, along with Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Nadia Battocletti, who will compete over the shorter distance.

Women’s Steeplechase: A Clash of Olympic Medallists

All three Olympic medallists in the women’s steeplechase will reunite in Rome. World and Olympic champion Winfred Yavi will face Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai and Kenya’s Faith Cherotich. With such a strong lineup, the meeting record of 9:00.71 is expected to be under threat.

High-Caliber Field in Men’s 5000m

The men’s 5000m promises a similarly high standard, with five of the top six finishers from the Olympic final set to compete. Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi and the USA’s Grant Fisher, the Olympic silver and bronze medallists, respectively, will be joined by world leader Hagos Gebrhiwet, European 10,000m champion Dominic Lobalu, Ethiopian teenager Biniam Mehary, Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed, and Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha.

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