Eight gold medalists from the Paris Olympic Games will travel to Rome for the Golden Gala on Friday (30), as the Italian capital hosts the 13th Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season.

The octet of Olympic champions includes world record holders Faith Kipyegon and Ryan Crouser, sprinter Letsile Tebogo from Botswana, steeplechase runner Winfred Yavi from Bahrain, discus thrower Roje Stona from Jamaica, US hurdler Masai Russell, Australian pole vaulter Nina Kennedy and US long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall.

Kipyegon will return to the meeting where she set her first 1500m world record, although this year’s edition is being held in Rome, her traditional venue, rather than Florence. The Kenyan won her third consecutive Olympic 1500m title in Paris, breaking her own Games record of 3:51.29 in the process, just two seconds off the world record of 3:49.04 she set at the Diamond League meeting in Paris earlier this year.

She will be accompanied in Rome by Australian Jess Hull, who followed her to the finish line in both her world record run and at the Olympic Games. World indoor champion Freweyni Hailu and fellow Ethiopian Birke Haylom are also in the field, while Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Nadia Battocletti will be running a shorter distance.

All three Olympic medalists will meet again in the women’s steeplechase when Yavi, the world and Olympic champion, takes on Peruth Chemutai of Uganda and Faith Cherotich of Kenya. The meeting record of 9:00.71 appears to be in jeopardy.

The men’s 5,000 metres is of a similarly high standard, with five of the top six runners from the Olympic final competing. Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi and American Grant Fisher, the Olympic silver and bronze medallists respectively, will face world number one Hagos Gebrhiwet, European 10,000 metres champion Dominic Lobalu, Ethiopian teenager Biniam Mehary, Canadian Mohammed Ahmed and Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha.

Thompson vs Tebogo

Kishane Thompson missed out on the coveted Olympic 100m title by just five thousandths of a second. The Jamaican, who set a world best of 9.77 earlier this year, had hoped to return to action at the recent Diamond League meeting in Silesia, but was unable to compete after feeling a slight tightness during his warm-up.

However, he will be back in action in Rome, facing Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who won the 200m title in Paris with an African record of 19.46 after finishing sixth in the 100m final with a national record of 9.86. 2022 world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Fred Kerley is also in the mix, as are 2021 Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs, world indoor champion Christian Coleman, indoor bronze medalist Ackeem Blake and African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala.

Jamaican record holder Ackera Nugent beat Olympic champion Masai Russell last weekend in Silesia and this week the pair will renew their rivalry in the women’s 100m hurdles in Rome. It won’t just be a race between two women though, as Olympic silver medallist Cyrena Samba-Mayela, American Alaysha Johnson, Swiss record holder Ditaji Kambundji, former world record holder Kendra Harrison and Nadine Visser of the Netherlands will also be in the running.

Anna Cockrell, who won silver at the Paris Olympics and climbed to fourth place in the all-time world rankings, leads the field in the women’s 400-meter hurdles in Rome. She will compete against fellow countrywoman and two-time world championship medalist Shamier Little and Jamaican Olympic finalists Rushell Clayton and Shiann Salmon.

In the men’s 400-meter race, Olympic bronze medalist Muzala Samukonga will face the two men who finished directly behind him in the Olympic final: 2022 World Indoor Champion Jereem Richards and 2012 Olympic Champion Kirani James. All three finished under 43 seconds in Paris.

Another Olympic bronze medalist, American Brittany Brown, leads the field in the women’s 200 metres. She will compete against European gold and silver medalists Mujinga Kambundji and Daryll Neita.

Stona ready for Diamond League debut

That Jamaica’s Roje Stona has never competed in a Diamond League meeting before is perhaps a measure of how surprising his Olympic victory was. The 25-year-old, who won the men’s discus event in Paris with a personal best of 70.00m, will be the first athlete in history to make his Diamond League debut after winning Olympic gold.

He will face several heavyweights of the event, namely world record holder Mykolas Alekna, 2022 world champion Kristian Ceh, Olympic bronze medalist Matthew Denny and world champion Daniel Stahl.

Meanwhile, Ryan Crouser, who happens to be Stona’s coach, will be competing in the men’s shot put. The three-time Olympic champion and world record holder will be looking to avenge his recent loss to Joe Kovacs in Silesia. European champion Leonardo Fabbri and Olympic bronze medalist Rajindra Campbell are also in the field.

Olympic champions Nina Kennedy and Tara Davis-Woodhall headline the women’s jumping events. Kennedy will compete in a pole vault event alongside Olympic bronze medalist Alysha Newman and European champion Angelica Moser.

Davis-Woodhall, meanwhile, will compete in the long jump alongside her US teammate Jasmine Moore, who won bronze in Paris.

Andy Diaz is one of several leading Italian athletes hoping for a spectacular win for the home fans on Friday as the Olympic bronze medallist takes on world champion Hugues Fabrice Zango in the triple jump.

European champion Gianmarco Tamberi will face 2022 world indoor champion Woo Sanghyeok and Italian Stefano Sottile in the men’s high jump.

Another Italian European champion, Lorenzo Simonelli, will compete in the men’s 110 metres hurdles alongside Cordell Tinch of the USA, Enrique Llopis of Spain, Sasha Zhoya of France and Orlando Bennett of Jamaica.