Jereem Richards sprinted to bronze in the men’s 400 meters at the Diamond League Golden Gala Pietro Mennea athletics meet at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.
Richards, who finished fourth at the 2024 Paris Olympics a few weeks ago in a new national record of 43.78 seconds, showed resilience in a solid finish to clock 44.54 seconds to pass Botswana’s Bapyo Ndori (44.56) just before the finish line.
Racing in his first 400m race since the Paris Olympics, Richards was in fifth place heading into the final 100m, but a late surge got him on the podium.
Paris Olympic bronze medallist Muzal Samukonga of Zimbabwe won the race comfortably in 43.99, and former Olympic and World champion Grenadian star Kirani James took silver in 44.30.
Richards was fifth in the Lausanne, Switzerland Diamond League 200m on Aug. 22 in a season’s best time of 20.10. Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana copped gold in 19.64.
Akera Nugent set a new Jamaican record of 12.24 seconds in winning the women’s 100m hurdles ahead of the Paris Olympic champion American Masai Russell (12.31). The win is the second after she won in Lausanne in a meet record of 12.29.
Paris Olympic men’s discus winner Roje Stona was among three Jamaicans who were second in their events. Stona took silver in the men’s discus in Rome with 67.85.
Slovenia’s 2022 World Champion Kristjan Ceh took gold (68.61), with world record-holder Mykolas Alexna of Lithuania (67.68) taking bronze.
Another Jamaican, Romaine Beckford, narrowly missed gold in the men’s high jump to Woo Sanghyeok of South Korea, the 2022 World Indoor gold medallist.
Shiaan Selman took silver in the women’s 400 hurdles in 53.20. Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell of the USA won in 52.59.
Jamaica’s former World and Olympic champion Omar Mc Leod finished third in the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.28. France’s 2021 World Under-20 victor Sasha Zhoya won with 13.18, and Asier Martinez of Spain, 2022 World Championships bronze medallist, was third in 13.27.
