ROME, Italy – The 2024 Diamond League circuit made its fourth stop in the Italian capital on Thursday for the annual Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, where Jamaica’s Megan Simmonds pulled off a career-defining win to claim her first ever Diamond League title in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Simmonds got out of the starting blocks with blistering speed, establishing an early lead over one of the season’s deepest fields. She held her form through the final hurdle to cross the line in a season’s best 12.50 seconds with a wind reading of 0.8m/s, holding off a late charge from the field to secure the historic win. Former women’s 100m hurdles world record holder Kendra Harrison of the United States finished just off the top spot, clocking 12.54 seconds to take silver, while the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser rounded out the top three with a 12.58-second run. Another Jamaican, Danielle Williams, also notched a season’s best performance to finish fifth in 12.69 seconds.
Simmonds’ victory was far from the only strong showing for Jamaican athletes at the meet, with six of her compatriots joining her on the event podium across other disciplines. In the men’s 110m hurdles, Jamaican national champion Orlando Bennett posted a time of 13.31 seconds (0.5m/s) to finish second, only behind American Trey Cunningham, who delivered a sensational performance to set a new personal best, world-leading time and meeting record of 12.98 seconds. Spain’s Enrique Llopis took third place just one hundredth of a second behind Bennett, at 13.32 seconds.
The men’s triple jump delivered one of the meet’s most exciting final rounds, as Italy’s Andy Diaz Hernandez defended his Rome title to secure his third consecutive Diamond League win at the event, jumping a season’s best 17.59m (-0.1m/s). World leading Jamaican jumper Jordan Scott fought his way into second place, notching a best mark of 17.33m (-0.2m/s) on his final attempt. Fellow Jamaican Jaydon Hibbert completed the event’s all-Jamaican podium split, taking third with a season’s best jump of 17.02m (-0.8m/s).
In the women’s 400m, rising Jamaican star Nickisha Pryce produced a strong final straight to overtake competitors and claim third place, stopping the clock at a season’s best 49.80 seconds. Norway’s Henriette Jaeger took the win in 49.60 seconds, while Czechia’s Lurdes Gloria Manuel notched a personal best 49.77 seconds to finish second. In the women’s 400m hurdles, Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton shaved time off her existing season’s best to finish third in 53.14 seconds, improving on the 53.75 seconds she ran just days earlier at the Rabat Diamond League in Morocco. Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalova claimed her second straight Diamond League win, lowering her own national record to 52.58 seconds – the fastest time in the world this season – while America’s Anna Cockrell took second in 52.77 seconds.
Jamaica’s Romaine Beckford rounded out the country’s podium finishers, taking third in the men’s high jump after clearing 2.23m. He matched the height of second-place finisher Erik Portillo of Mexico, while host nation’s Matteo Sioli took the gold with a 2.28m clearance. World indoor medalist Raymond Richards, also of Jamaica, finished seventh in the event after clearing 2.20m.
Several other Jamaican competitors posted top-seven finishes without making the podium. Long jumpers Tajay Gayle and Wayne Pinnock finished fourth and seventh, with marks of 8.04m and 7.75m respectively, while Rajindra Campbell placed fifth in the men’s shot put with a best throw of 21.39m. In the men’s 100m, Ackeem Blake finished seventh in 10.06 seconds (0.4m/s), as American star Noah Lyles took the win in 9.88 seconds. Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme set a new national record of 9.94 seconds to take second, while Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo took third in a season’s best 9.95 seconds.
Reporting by Paul A Reid