Ireland’s Sarah Healy won her first ever Diamond League race with victory in Rome in the women’s 1500m on Friday (6).
The 3000m gold medallist from the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships showed strength and composure as she ran a superbly judged last lap to win in 3:59.17.
She emerged from a large pack at the bell to chase down Kenya’s Susan Ejore in the home straight and kept enough in the tank to fend off Australian duo Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell in a tight finish.
Battocletti goes second in European all-time list
There was another step forward in the relentlessly progressive career of Nadia Battocletti as she sliced eight seconds off her Italian record in the women’s 5000m.
In what turned out to be the second fastest race in history won by Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet in 14:03:69, Battocletti had to ease off the brutal early pace being set.
But she regathered herself and - on the same track where she won a brilliant European 5000m/10,000m double last year - dug deep to finish third in 14:23.15, it was over eight seconds quicker than her previous best.
It also took her to second place on the European all-time list, headed by the Netherlands Sifan Hassan with 14:13.42. Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu was second in 14:19.33.
Joseph returns to best form in hurdles
Jason Joseph, former European indoor champion, came bursting through in the latter half of the race to win the men’s 110m hurdles in a season’s best 13.14. It was the Swiss athlete’s fastest run since September 2023.
He got a modest start, but came surging through the field and out dipped USA’s Cordell Tinch who was also clocked at 13.14.
France’s Azeddine Habz, silver medallist at the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships, had one of his career best results, winning the men’s 1500m in a blanket finish ahead of former Kenya’s former world champion Timothy Cheruiyot. Habz edged it by 0.03 in 3:29.72.
The men’s long jump ignited in the final three. European silver medallist Mattia Furlani thrilled the home fans by landing at 8.13m with the penultimate jump of the competition to snatch the lead from Greece’s Olympic, world and European champion Miltiádis Tentóglou, whose best was 8.10m.
But Australian Liam Adcock soared out to 8.34m with the very final jump to take victory from his European rivals.