Italian stars Larissa Iapichino and Andy Diaz will face fierce competition in front of their home crowd at the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala this year, as some of the world's best long and triple jumpers resume their Wanda Diamond League campaigns in Rome on August 30th after the Olympics.
Diaz is the reigning Wanda Diamond League champion in the men's triple jump, but is yet to claim his first win in the series this season. The 28-year-old, who switched allegiances from Cuba to Italy last year, will be hoping to match the Cuban record of 17.75m he jumped at the Golden Gala in Florence on his way to last year's title.
At the Stadio Olimpico this year, the Italian will go up against Burkinabe rival and reigning Olympic bronze medallist and worldchampion Hugues Fabrice Zango, who already has one Diamond League win under his belt in 2024 thanks to a 17.24m jump in Oslo earlier this month.
The Rome crowd will also get behind Larissa Iapichino in the long jump, less than three months after she won the silver medal at the European Championships in the same stadium.
Iapichino, who began last season's Diamond League campaign with three back-to-back wins, is yet to appear in the series this season and will likely need a strong performance to have a chance of qualifying for the series final in Brussels on September 13th-14th.
She will face a tough test against 2019 Wanda Diamond League champion Malaika Mihambo, with the German already in fine form this season and ready to return a stadium where she has traditionally enjoyed plenty of success.
Mihambo marked a then-PB of 7.07m at the Rome Diamond League in 2019, and her European gold earlier this summer came with a world lead of 7.22m at the Stadio Olimpico.
The Wanda Diamond League is the premier one-day meeting series in athletics. It comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field. Athletes compete for points at the 14 series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels on 13th-14th September.
