Golden Gala Explained

Bgcolour:	FE9A2E
Date:	May – September
Location:	Rome, Italy
Type:	Track and field
Iaaf Category:	GW^[1]

Golden Gala is an annual track and field event normally held 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.

The 2021 and 2023 events were temporarily relocated to Florence.^[2]

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 after their boycott of 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.^[3] In the 100 m, Tyson Gay equalled his American record and Daniel Bailey set an Antiguan record in the men's race.^[4] Antonietta Di Martino brought the sole Italian victory in Rome by beating off favourite Blanka Vlašić in the high jump.^[4]

Editions

In 1981 the IAAF World Cup was held in Rome, so no Golden Gala meeting was organized.^[5]

Golden Gala editions

	Meeting	Series	Date
			5 Aug 1980	^[6]
			14 Sep 1982	^[7]
			1 Sep 1983	^[8]
			31 Aug 1984	^[9]
			9 Jul 1985	^[10]
			10 Sep 1986	^[11]
			22 Jul 1987	^[12]
			27 Jul 1988	^[13]
			19 Jul 1989	^[14]
			18 Jul 1990	^[15]
			17 Jul 1991	^[16]
			9 Jun 1992	^[17]
			9 Jun 1993	^[18]
			8 Jun 1994	^[19]
			8 Jun 1995	^[20]
			5 Jun 1996	^[21]
			5 Jun 1997	^[22]
			14 Jul 1998	^[23]
			7 Jul 1999	^[24]
			30 Jun 2000	^[25]
			29 Jun 2001	^[26]
			12 Jul 2002	^[27]
			11 Jul 2003	^[28]
			2 Jul 2004	^[29]
			8 Jul 2005	^[30]
			14 Jul 2006	^[31]
			13 Jul 2007	^[32]
			11 Jul 2008	^[33]
			10 Jul 2009	^[34]
			10 Jun 2010	^[35]
			26 May 2011	^[36]
			31 May 2012	^[37]
			6 Jun 2013	^[38]
			5 Jun 2014	^[39]
			4 Jun 2015	^[40]
			2 Jun 2016	^[41]
			8 Jun 2017	^[42]
			31 May 2018	^[43]
			6 Jun 2019	^[44]
			17 Sep 2020	^[45]
			10 Jun 2021	^[46]
			9 Jun 2022	^[47]
			2 Jun 2023	^[48]
			30 Aug 2024

World records

Over the course of its history, ten 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.

World records set at the Golden Gala

Year	Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality
1983	Pole vault	5.83 m
1984	Pole vault	5.94 m
		5.91 m
1987		12:58.39
1995		12:55.30
1998		3:26.00
1999		3:43.13
2000	Javelin throw	68.22 m
2008	Pole vault	5.03 m
2023		3:49.11

Meeting records

Men

Men's meeting records of the Golden Gala

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Meet
100 m	9.75 (+0.9 m/s)	Justin Gatlin		4 June 2015	2015	^[49]
200 m	19.70 (+0.7 m/s)			6 June 2019	2019	^[50]
400 m	43.62	Jeremy Wariner		14 July 2006	2006
800 m	1:42.79	Wilson Kipketer		7 July 1999	1999
1500 m	3:26.00 WR	Hicham El Guerrouj		14 July 1998	1998
Mile	3:43.13 WR	Hicham El Guerrouj		7 July 1999	1999
2000 m	4:54.02	Vénuste Niyongabo		8 June 1995	1995
3000 m	7:26.64	Jacob Kiplimo		17 September 2020	2020	^[51]
5000 m	12:46.33	Nicholas Kimeli		9 June 2022	2022	^[52]
110 m hurdles	13.01 (+0.8 m/s)	Allen Johnson		7 July 1999	1999
	13.01 (-0.1 m/s)	Omar McLeod		10 June 2021	2021	^[53]
400 m hurdles	47.07	Karsten Warholm		17 September 2020	2020	^[54]
3000 m steeplechase	7:54.31	Paul Kipsiele Koech		31 May 2012	2012	^[55]
High jump	2.41 m	Mutaz Essa Barshim		5 June 2014	2014	^[56]
Pole vault	6.15 m	Armand Duplantis		17 September 2020	2020
Long jump	8.61 m (0.0 m/s)	Dwight Phillips		10 July 2009	2009	^[57]
Triple jump	17.96 m (-0.4 m/s)	Pedro Pichardo		4 June 2015	2015	^[58]
Shot put	21.97 m	Konrad Bukowiecki		6 June 2019	2019	^[59]
Discus throw	70.72 m	Kristjan Ceh		9 June 2022	2022
Hammer throw	84.88 m	Sergey Litvinov		10 September 1986	1986
Javelin throw	90.34 m	Andreas Thorkildsen		14 July 2006	2006
4 × 100 m relay	38.31	Santa Monica Track Club Michael Marsh Leroy Burrell Floyd Heard Carl Lewis		8 June 1994	1994
4 × 400 m relay	3:01.76 DLR	Nigel Levine Conrad Williams Chris Clarke Jack Green		31 May 2012	2012	^[60]

Women

Women's meeting records of the Golden Gala

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Meet
100 m	10.75 (+0.6 m/s)	Marion Jones		14 July 1998	1998
	10.75 (+0.4 m/s)	Kerron Stewart		10 July 2009	2009	^[61]
200 m	21.91 (+1.3 m/s)	Shericka Jackson		9 June 2022	2022
400 m	49.17	Marita Koch		10 September 1986	1986
800 m	1:55.69	Pamela Jelimo		11 July 2008	2008
1500 m	3:49.11	Faith Kipyegon		2 June 2023	2023	^[62] ^[63]
Mile	4:21.38	Paula Ivan		19 July 1989	1989
3000 m	8:23.96	Olga Yegorova		29 June 2001	2001
5000 m	14:12.59	Almaz Ayana		2 June 2016	2016	^[64]
100 m hurdles	12.37 (+0.1 m/s)	Jasmine Camacho-Quinn		9 June 2022	2022
400 m hurdles	52.43	Femke Bol		2 June 2023	2023	^[65]
3000 m steeplechase	9:00.71	Sembo Almayew		2 June 2023	2023	^[66]
High jump	2.03 m	Yelena Slesarenko		2 July 2004	2004	^[67]
		Hestrie Cloete		2 July 2004	2004
		Blanka Vlašić		10 June 2010	2010
		Chaunté Howard-Lowe		10 June 2010	2010
Pole vault	5.03 m	Yelena Isinbayeva		13 July 2007	2007
Long jump	7.23 m (−0.3 m/s)	Marion Jones		14 July 1998	1998
Triple jump	15.29 m (+0.3 m/s)	Yamilé Aldama		11 July 2003	2003
Shot put	21.03 m DLR	Valerie Adams		31 May 2012	2012	^[68]
Discus throw	68.93 m	Sandra Perković		31 May 2018	2018	^[69]
Javelin throw	68.66 m	Barbora Špotáková		10 June 2010	2010
4 × 100 m relay	43.64	Nataliya Strohova Yelizaveta Bryzgina Olesya Povh Natalia Pohrebniak		2 June 2016	2016	^[70]

See also

• Notturna di Milano
• Rieti meeting

External links

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Events Calendar Diamond League Meetings. World Athletics. 2024.
2. Web site: Strong Wanda Diamond League 2021 season takes shape in Olympic year. 2021-04-21. IDL Diamond League.
3. Powell, David (2009-07-10). Bekele – ‘I’m dreaming about this jackpot’ – ÅF Golden League. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-07-23.
4. Web site: IAAF: Gay powers back with 9.77 in Rome – REPORT – ÅF Golden League News iaaf.org . Ramsak . Bob . 10 July 2009 . iaaf.org . 12 February 2018.
5. Web site: Golden Gala’s Glorious history . 2003-07-07 . 2024-07-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220305094124/https://worldathletics.org/news/news/golden-galas-glorious-history . 2022-03-05 . live.
6. Web site: 1980 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
7. Web site: 1982 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
8. Web site: 1983 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
9. Web site: 1984 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
10. Web site: 1985 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
11. Web site: 1986 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
12. Web site: 1987 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
13. Web site: 1988 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
14. Web site: 1989 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
15. Web site: 1990 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
16. Web site: 1991 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
17. Web site: 1992 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
18. Web site: 1993 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
19. Web site: 1994 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
20. Web site: 1995 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
21. Web site: 1996 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
22. Web site: 1997 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
23. Web site: 1998 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
24. Web site: 1999 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
25. Web site: 2000 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
26. Web site: 2001 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
27. Web site: 2002 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
28. Web site: 2003 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
29. Web site: 2004 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
30. Web site: 2005 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
31. Web site: 2006 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
32. Web site: 2007 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
33. Web site: 2008 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
34. Web site: 2009 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
35. Web site: 2010 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
36. Web site: 2011 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
37. Web site: 2012 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
38. Web site: 2013 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
39. Web site: 2014 Results . 2024-07-25 . ita.milesplit.com.
40. Web site: 2015 Results . 2024-07-25 . worldathletics.org.
41. Web site: 2016 Results . 2024-07-25 . worldathletics.org.
42. Web site: 2017 Results . 2024-07-25 . worldathletics.org.
43. Web site: 2018 Results . 2024-07-25 . worldathletics.org.
44. Web site: 2019 Results . 2024-07-25 . worldathletics.org.
45. Web site: 2020 Results . 2024-07-25 . worldathletics.org.
46. Web site: 2021 Results . 2024-07-25 . worldathletics.org.
47. Web site: 2022 Results . 2024-07-25 . worldathletics.org.
48. Web site: 2023 Results . 2024-07-25 . worldathletics.org.
49. News: Golden Gala Pietro Mennea – Men's 100m Results. IAAF. 4 June 2015. 4 June 2015.
50. News: IAAF Diamond League – Rome (ITA) – 6th June 2019 – Results – 200m Men. IAAF. 6 June 2019. 6 June 2019. 7 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190607003446/https://livecache.sportresult.com/node/binaryData/ATH_PROD/ROME2019/PDF_RE0020040.PDF. dead.
51. News: Duplantis scales 6.15m in Rome, world's highest ever outdoor vault. World Athletics. Nicole Jeffery. 17 September 2020. 18 September 2020.
52. News: Jackson wins sprint showdown, Kimeli reigns in Rome. World Athletics. Jess Whittington. 9 June 2022. 22 June 2022.
53. News: Ingebrigtsen beats top 5000m field to show superb form in Florence. World Athletics. Nicole Jeffery. 10 June 2021. 29 June 2021.
54. Web site: 400m Hurdles Result. sportresult.com. 17 September 2020. 29 September 2020. 29 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201029071035/http://static.sportresult.com/sports/at/data/2020/rome/re0270040.pdf. dead.
55. Web site: 3000m Steeplechase Men: Results. 31 May 2012. 31 May 2012. IAAF Diamond League. Omega Timing.
56. News: Barshim soars not shimmies over the bars in Rome – IAAF Diamond League. IAAF. Phil Minshull. 5 June 2014. 6 June 2014.
57. Web site: Long Jump Results. goldengala.it. 2009-07-10. 2009-08-21. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120216142436/http://www.goldengala.it/result2009/re0830040.pdf. 2012-02-16.
58. News: Golden Gala Pietro Mennea – Men's Triple Jump Results. IAAF. 4 June 2015. 4 June 2015.
59. News: IAAF Diamond League – Rome (ITA) – 6th June 2019 – Results – Shot Put Men. IAAF. 6 June 2019. 6 June 2019.
60. News: Bolt's blazing 9.76 one of seven world leads on electric night in Rome – Samsung Diamond League. IAAF. David Martin. 31 May 2012. 2 June 2012.
61. Web site: 100 Metres Results. goldengala.it. 2009-07-10. 2010-05-14. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111005013708/http://www.goldengala.it/result2009/re1010040.html. 2011-10-05.
62. Web site: 1500m Result. sportresult.com. 2 June 2023. 2 June 2023. 2 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230602195722/https://livecache.sportresult.com/node/binaryData/ATH_PROD/ROME2023/PDF_ATHW1500M---DIAMOND---FNL-000100--_C73C1.PDF?h=mwYOfTt0kWmJrCtqQ%2FxN%20oewynY%3D%2F. dead.
63. Ratified: world records for Kipyegon, Girma and Perez . 7 August 2023 . . 21 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230810071218/https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/ratified-world-records-kipyegon-1500m-5000m-girma-steeplechase-perez-race-walk . 2023-08-10 . live.
64. Web site: 5000m Results. sportresult.com. 2 June 2016. 3 June 2016. 11 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170211131210/http://static.sportresult.com/sports/at/data/2016/rome/re5340040.pdf. dead.
65. Web site: 400m Hurdles Result. sportresult.com. 2 June 2023. 2 June 2023.
66. Web site: 3000m Steeplechase Result. sportresult.com. 2 June 2023. 2 June 2023. 2 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230602190435/https://livecache.sportresult.com/node/binaryData/ATH_PROD/ROME2023/PDF_ATHW3000MST-DIAMOND---FNL-000100--_C73C1.PDF?h=8a+RWjK/nbDFaNKGcFVy3tfoKlA=/. dead.
67. Web site: Golden Gala 2004 Result Book. goldengala.it. 2004-07-02. 2009-08-21. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111005013518/http://www.goldengala.it/files/GoldenGala2004.pdf. 2011-10-05.
68. Web site: Shot Put Women: Results. 31 May 2012. 31 May 2012. IAAF Diamond League. Omega Timing.
69. Web site: Discus Throw Results. sportresult.com. 31 May 2018. 1 June 2018.
70. Web site: 4×100m Relay Results. sportresult.com. 2 June 2016. 3 June 2016. 11 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170211131210/http://static.sportresult.com/sports/at/data/2016/rome/re5340040.pdf. dead.