American sprint ‘Showman’ Lyles shines as Rome delivers four world leads at Golden Gala Pietro Mennea 2026
Talk of showies [Showmen] in the world of sprint today and American sprinter – Noah Lyles’ name will pop up at ease. But, what makes the eight-time World champion so outstanding is the fact that he often back his showmanship with great performances from one event to the other.
Even though running his first Diamond League event of the season against a stack field, the Gainesville [Florida] born sprint freat did not shy away from promising a showdown at the pre event media conference on Wednesday, pledging to run 9.85 seconds.
Cometh the hour, the Olympic champion clocked 9.88 seconds to win the men’s 100m, ahead of Emmanuel Eseme, and Letsile Tebogo, stealing the spotlight as the crowd cheered him on, while Julien Alfred took women’s 200m in 21.93 seconds. Italy lit up the home crowd with three standout victories from Leonardo Fabbri, Andy Diaz and Matteo Sioli as the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea once again delivered world-class athletics as Rome hosted the fourth stop of the Wanda Diamond League.
Four athletes left Rome with world-leading marks. Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw dominated the women’s 5000m in 14:18.41, while Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalová clocked 52.58 in the women’s 400m hurdles, the third-fastest European performance in history. American Trey Cunningham ran 12.98 (+0.5) to win the men’s 110m hurdles, and Sri Lanka’s Ramesh Tharanga Pathirage produced one of the performances of the night with a huge javelin throw of 92.62m, the eighth-best mark ever recorded.
Another key highlight on the track was the women’s 200m, where Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia defeated reigning world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the United States, 21.93 to 22.17.
The home crowd also had plenty to celebrate as Italian athletes claimed three victories. Leonardo Fabbri won the shot put with 22.14m, Andy Diaz triumphed in the triple jump with 17.59m, and Matteo Sioli took top honours in the high jump with a clearance of 2.28m.
Elsewhere, France’s Gabriel Tual won the men’s 800 metres in 1:43.98. Norway’s Henriette Jaeger impressed in the women’s 400 metres, taking victory in 49.60, while Great Britain’s world indoor champion Georgia Hunter Bell captured the women’s 1500m in 3:58.63.
The women’s pole vault produced one of the strongest competitions of the season, with Britain’s Molly Caudery emerging victorious as three athletes cleared 4.80m, including Olympic champion Nina Kennedy of Australia and Switzerland’s Angelica Moser. In the men’s long jump, Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Saraboyukov edged Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou by two centimetres with a leap of 8.26m. Jamaica’s Megan Simmonds rounded out the list of winners with victory in the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.50 (+0.8).
With elite fields, world-leading marks and outstanding performances across the programme, the Golden Gala once again lived up to its reputation as one of the crown jewels of the Diamond League circuit.
