by Stuart Weir
Stuart Weir is in Florence and will be taking RunBlogRun Live in Florence, Oslo, Paris and Lausanne, Stockholm, and European Teams (Poland) in the next 5 weeks! Stuart took a well-deserved break since Doha, and we are looking forward to his upcoming commentary in the Summer of 2023.
The Golden Gala Meeting is always a fine event. I visited the Golden Gala in 2011 and 2012 and loved the event. The Stadio Olimpico is building a new track, from CONICA, in the Stadio Olimpico, which will be ready for the 2024 European Outdoor Athletics Championships next summer.
The meet will be held in Florence tomorrow, and from Fred Kerley to Faith Kipyegon, Florence will have wonderful rivalries and events. You can watch the meet in North America on Peacock TV, beginning at 11 am Pacific time, 1 pm Central time, and 2 pm Eastern time!
To see the complete schedule, please click here: https://rome.diamondleague.com/programma-risultati/programma-risultati-roma/
Florence welcomes the Diamond League.
For the second time in recent years (also in 2021), the Golden Gala has left Rome and will take place in Florence. Situated in north/central Italy, about 160 miles north of Rome, its official population is 360,930 (2023), or just under a million if you count all those in the Greater Florence conglomeration. It is called Firenze in Italian. I can confirm that it is 60 miles from Pisa as my plane was diverted there. Famous for its architecture and culture, Florence attracts millions of tourists each year.
The Diamond League event takes place in the Luigi Ridolfi municipal stadium, inaugurated in 2001 and named after the great Florentine athlete Luigi Ridolfi Vay da Verrazzano. According to Google, he lived (1895 –1958) and was a politician, entrepreneur, and sports manager.
I have been to a few Diamond League press conferences in my time, but the Florence venue takes some beating. According to the official website, the Palazzo Vecchio, which dates back to 1299, “stands tall as the prime symbol of political power in the city of Florence. Its cultural and architectural prominence rose primarily during the Medici dynasty. Located in the heart of the Piazza del Signoria, this iconic structure serves today as the city’s town hall as well as a museum”.
