Kara Patterson in field for Thursday's Golden Gala in Rome...
On the pro circuit, Vancouver native Kara Patterson (left/photo by Paul Merca) will throw the javelin in Thursday night's Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meet at Rome's Stadio Olimpico, part of the IAAF Diamond League circuit.
She'll face a field that includes current IAAF Diamond League leader Martina Ratej of Slovenia, three-time world championship finalist Linda Stahl of Germany, and two-time Olympic champ Barbora Špotáková of the Czech Republic, who is returning to competition after a maternity leave in 2013.
The meet also features one of the best men's high jump fields, led by reigning word and Olympic champs Bohdan Bondarenko of the Ukraine, and Russia's Ivan Ukhov, along with Canada's Derek Drouin and Erik Kynard of the USA.
The men's 1500 features a rematch of last Saturday's Bowerman Mile between 2013 world champ Asbel Kiprop against Djibouti's Ayanieh Souleiman, who ran the fastest time in the world, clocking 3:47.32, a new IAAF Diamond League record.
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