Athletics Golden Gala (04-06-2026)

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I go by public transport and, for once, I get a pleasant surprise: they have restored the tram service. I arrive early, so early that I even hope to watch the programme from the very start, especially since there is no queue either at the first security check or at the turnstiles. They do not even frisk me; they only check backpacks, and I did not bring one. I get in just as the programme has begun: we are at the first round of the men's javelin and there have already been two or three jumps in the women's pole vault.

My seat is in the Tevere stand, south side, that is, at the start of the back straight opposite the finish. In my block there is a group of youngsters from Atletica Arezzo. My seat is occupied, so I sit two seats earlier, but by the time the rightful occupants arrive, mine will have become free. By the start of the TV broadcast, the Tevere stand is fairly full in the stretch between the two entrances (the one at ground level and the higher one), as are the lower half of the two bends (plus the north end of the South bend) and the two sides of the Monte Mario stand. The corner seats and the centre of the Monte Mario, on the other hand, are almost deserted. Still, the usual point remains true: this is one of the largest stadiums on the Diamond League circuit, and the people present would probably be enough to fill Oslo’s Bislett Stadium (and also Ricolfi in Florence).

I am in an excellent position for the javelin: I can see the throwers’ movement very well. So I think I will also have a very good view of the high jump. The sun is a bit in my face, since I brought neither a cap nor sunglasses in order to travel light, but that only lasts about twenty minutes. I will feel the lack of one of the other things I did not bring in order to travel light much more keenly: the power bank. I arrive just as it is the turn of the Sri Lankan javelin thrower Pathirage, cheered on by a group of fellow countrymen in the section in front of mine. He is already leading after the first throw; with his second he goes well beyond the 85-metre tape: 92.62, the eighth-best performance ever! Frattini stays under 75 metres, in last place. Meanwhile, in the pole vault, Molinarolo clears 4.30 on her third attempt and gives the impression that she cannot do more. Instead, she also clears 4.45, again on her third attempt (and I miss it), while the two New Zealanders go out. Five clear 4.60, four clear 4.70 (Noon goes out), and three clear 4.80: Cadbury and Kennedy on the first attempt, Moser on the second. The Briton clears 4.85, which the other two fail, and once she has won, she does not continue. The race ends early: presumably they wanted to avoid interference with the shot put, even though the areas were close together, they did not overlap.

At the end of the javelin I go and get something to eat: there is not much, and many kiosks are closed. There is a hamburger stand, but there is a queue, so I settle for a hot dog. In the meantime, the men’s triple jump has started: the pit is on the far side from me, so it is hard to make much sense of the distance, even if the metric board is visible; you can only get a vague idea, above all from how close the athlete lands to the pit after the step. Hibbert’s first jump looks long, but it is only 16.88; Diaz’s second (after a foul) looks longer, also judging by the crowd’s reaction near the landing area, but I do not think by that much: 17.58. From his reaction and the crowd’s, the fifth looks even better, but in reality it is only one centimetre farther. He still wins comfortably, ahead of the Jamaican Scott, who reaches 17.33 with his last jump.

On the track, after some masters and para-athletics events, it is time for the final of the Palio dei Comuni, a 12X200 mixed relay for middle-school students.The announcer calls out completely wrong lane assignments and bib numbers, but at least the finalists are the right ones. Around halfway, Perugia breaks away and wins. The announcer mentions the presence of the mascot of the European Championships in Rieti and that of the Golden Gala, but I only see them during the medal ceremony. The first official race is the women’s 400, and it feels like going back a few years, with the Italians left behind right from the start: Folorunso seems to be doing better, but in the closing stages Muraro overtakes her. Zapletalova wins with the world lead. Things go better in the 800, with Pernici staying with the group and gaining places in the final stretch, up to third. Seeing the winner’s time, 1:43.66, it becomes clear that the record has not come this time either, but it is still 1:43.97.

The two field events that will give us the greatest satisfaction begin: the men’s high jump and shot put. For the first, I am really in an excellent position, almost exactly level with the uprights. They start at 2.12, which Sioli and two others pass, while all the others get over it at the first attempt; then comes 2.16, which Harrison and another athlete clear only on the third. At 2.20 Harrison goes out; at 2.23 there are three left: Sioli, Portillo of Mexico and Beckford of Jamaica. At 2.26 Sioli gets the first attempt completely wrong, but on the second he clears it comfortably. When Portillo misses his third and hugs him, I realise he has won: Beckford is out as well, I had thought he had saved an attempt. He then clears 2.28 on the second attempt, after just barely missing the first, and then misses 2.31, by a little on the third.

secondo, dopo aver fallito di pochissimo il primo, poi manca i 2,31, al terzo di poco.

The shot put is completely on the opposite side, so I have little sense of the distances: they all seem closer to the 22-metre tape than they actually are. On the third attempt Fabbri really does go beyond it with 22.14, and he will remain the only one, but I miss it. I do see his next throw, 21.79. He wins ahead of Kovacs and Crouser. Three Italian victories: it almost feels normal, and yet it took us more than a decade to get to three wins in the whole Diamond League history.

There is another field event that should have been the highlight, but after Furlani’s withdrawal it draws little interest. The Italian Chillà finishes last; at first it seems to be a contest between Tentoglou and the Bulgarian whose name I will refrain from writing, but in the third round the junior Cuban Hodelin takes the lead with 8.18. Tentoglou will produce 8.20 in the fifth and 8.24 in the sixth, but the Bulgarian will go past him again with 8.26. The final jump, which takes place before the last track race, gets a little more attention.

Meanwhile, on the track, after the 100m hurdles with the Italians predictably at the back but holding their own (Carmassi 12.90, Succo 13.19), one of the headline events arrives: the women’s 5000. Battocletti is one of the most applauded Italians, second only to Jacobs. The race starts relatively tactically, with the athletes not following the pacemakers and the light for the Italian record gradually pulling away. Battocletti stays among the leaders until the third kilometre, then loses ground, eventually dropping back into the penultimate group. I wonder whether she will finish the race at all; instead, in the last two laps she regains a little ground and closes in 14:40, which is still four seconds faster than the second-best Italian performance ever. The announcer informs us that the first seven are all Ethiopian, and they are very hard to tell apart, with all the identical vests.

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Then come the 110m hurdles, the only race without Italians, with Cunningham under 13 seconds, the women’s 400, with four under 50 seconds, the women’s 200 with Alfred under 22 seconds, and a tactical women’s 1500, won in 3:58, with Cavalli staying with the group and finishing in 4:01, while Sabatini trails behind in 4:07. That brings us to the grand finale of the men’s 100. The lights go out and the athletes are brought into the stadium one by one, as in the final of a championship. Huge roar for Jacobs, but Lyles is warmly applauded as well. They get away: the Italian stays with the field, around halfway he seems to lose a little, but then he comes back. In the closing stages Lyles breaks away, and his is the only position that stands out clearly. Seeing his time, 9.88, it is clear that Jacobs has also run well, and indeed he clocks 9.99: he is back under 10 seconds after Paris.

On the way out, the crowd really does seem numerous. I just miss the tram and there is not another one: I have to take a bus and then the metro replacement service. Lessons for next year: 1) if it is still at this time, I will go by car; 2) I will bring my backpack; 3) maybe I will go to the start-area side to get a good view of the shot put (but that also depends on who is in the high jump).