Moon, Woodruff & Allen in Florence for the third stop of the Wanda Diamond League circuit...
A trio of athletes with Washington ties are over in Florence, Italy for the third stop on the Wanda Diamond League circuit, the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meeting.
With repair work being done on the Estadio Olimpico in Rome, the meet was moved to Florence for this season's meet, which is the first of ten contested on the European continent (one meet will be contested in Shenzhen, China on September 2nd), before the Wanda Diamond League finals on September 16-17th at the Nike Prefontaine Classic in Eugene at Historic Hayward Field.
Former Pullman resident Katie Moon (Matthew Quine/Diamond League AG photo), who won the pole vault at the first stop on the Diamond League circuit in Doha on May 5th, looks to bounce back after not clearing a bar at the USATF LA Grand Prix meet at Drake Stadium on the UCLA campus last week.
Moon's mark in Doha of 15-9.25 (4.81m) stands as the current world leader heading into the meet. She goes into the meet ranked number 2 in the world behind her training partner Sandi Morris, who is also in the field.
Washington alum Gianna Woodruff goes in the women's 400 hurdles, where she'll face Shamier Little, who won the Diamond League stop in Rabat, Morocco last Sunday, along with Femke Bol of the Netherlands, and former Florida standout Anna Hall, who is running the event one week after an outstanding performance at the Götzis Hypo Meeting heptathlon, where she scored 6988 points, the fifth best score all-time.
Rasheed Broadbell and Hansle Parchment of Jamaica, who finished first and third in Rabat last Sunday, won't be in Florence, but reigning world champion Grant Holloway and fellow Americans Freddie Crittenden and Jamal Britt will toe the line against former Renton resident Devon Allen in the men's 110 hurdles.
Olympia native Brooke Feldmeier is one of the two pacesetters in the final race of the evening, the women's 1500, where the field, which includes eight sub-4 minute 1500 meter runners, led by two-time Olympic champion and defending world champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, and Great Britain's Laura Muir.
The Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meeting will be shown on a delayed basis Saturday on NBC (KING 5 in Seattle), and live on Peacock.tv ($).
NOTE: The Wanda Diamond League contributed to this report.
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