by Stuart Weir
This is the third story by Stuart Weir on the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, held on June 6, 2025. Stuart Weir is the senior writer for Europe for RunBlogRun. He will be at Oslo, Stockholm and Paris Diamond League meets this season.
Six take-aways from the Golden Gala
1 Diamond Leagues are better if the home nation does well!
While everyone can applaud good performances, it certainly adds to the occasion if the whole nation does well. (See separate post on 5 Italian podium places).
2 Hooray for Golden Oldies
I was pleased to see Sandi Morris and Trayvon Bromell winning. Bromell won the 100m in a world leading time of 9.84 beating Ferdinand Omanyala and Fred Kerley and a few others. Now 29, I remember seeing him win the 60m in the World Indoors in Portland 2016. He has had his injury problems but it would be great to see what he can do if he has a full season fit and well.
Sandi Morris is now 32 but a multiple medal-winner in the past and 4.80 is a pretty good height so early in the season. And Sandi is the only athlete I know who will as happily talk about her snakes and monitor lizards as pole-vaulting!
Bromell certainly understood the significance of the win: “I am glad how I executed the race, it was a great feeling. I have been away for a while now. To be able to compete on a high level. I was definitely nervous, I did not know what to expect. You know I ran 9.91 and everybody had these speculations. But I just needed to be the person I am and I do not expect anything but fast times and execution. I really did not feel where the competition went. My biggest thing is that I never count on anybody else. To be honest, 2021, that was me nobody was going to beat me, I was the fastest guy. But I am never going to have that attitude in the race again because you never know how somebody is feeling that day. So my big thing is to execute. 2021 taught me a lot”. It is good to have him back.
I found Sandi’s comments equally fascinating, not getting carried away, using her experience, remembering the game plan…” Today is monumental for me on a personal level. This is my first Diamond League win since 2022. There was a little bit pressure there on 4.75. I knew that whoever could go over this height would probably take the win. But I have a lot more going on and it kind of distracted me from the competition. I went back to a longer approach and I went to longer poles in one day. This is something I decided earlier today and in the last minute. All of my focus was just on me and that is the key in the individual events. You need to ignore your competitors, just do what you need to do to execute well. We are early in the season so I was like now or never if I am going to try those new things. And I am not going to waste the opportunity on a fast runway and warm conditions with an awesome crowd, fantastic atmosphere… I have been fighting with problems with my shoulder so I have to keep the volume of jumps lower. I really wanted to keep jumping but I also listen to my goals”.
3 A close High Hurdles race
Jason Joseph beat Tinch Cordell (13.14) in the 110 hurdles by three thousandths of a second. You can feel the excitement in Joseph’s words: “Win is a win. I was fighting. But I think that the start was not that great. I had a lot of work to do. I just knew that if I get my position right, when I focus on my lead and everything, that I will be having a good race. I was not really focused on the win but on executing it right. Coming off that 9th hurdle, I was like: Damn, I am right in that mix. If I do not clip anything, if I concentrate, I might even win it. It is a great start for me. I did what I was showing in a practice and what I had to do. So it was a good step”.
4 An epic Men’s 1500
Azeddine Habz of France finished in 3:29.72 to beat Timothy Cheruiyot by 3 hundredths of a second in the men’s 1500. In one of those magnificent races that the Diamond League series produces, Robert Farken ran a German National Record an Samuel Pihlstrom a Swedish record while eight other athletes ran PRs. That is 10 PRs out of 16 athletes in the race.
5 Sarah Healy
Sarah Healey followed up her NR at Millrose, her win at European Indoors and her third place in Rabat with a first Diamond League win. Her assessment of the race was: “It was a very competitive field. I kind of felt that it was going to be crazy tonight. We all were able to be running around the same time. I just had to stay patient and had to make a few moves, which I am happy about, especially on the home straight. I know my shape is good and I am really fit – hopefully a PB in the 1500 is coming soon. But I just want to compete for the win and I know that I am good at fast races so I am happy to win tonight. I will race the 1500m in Tokyo but still it is a long way. I just need to stay patient and now, I am having a lot of fun”.
6 Anavia Battle
Three Diamond League 200s this year and three wins. She said of Rome: “In the blocks I told myself to stay calm, not to freak out, to run my pace. So I concentrated on myself and on how to become the best athlete I can be. I ran in lane 6 with Ta Lou in front of me, so I had to run my race and not look at her. Winning today gives me a lot of motivation and faith, also for the trials. My finish has got a lot better, so I am grateful. I love this stadium. Coming in here was amazing. But I had to stay calm in order to win. The most important thing is mental: I have been doing a lot of mental work.”
