World record-holder Usain Bolt will run the 100 metres at Rome’s Golden Gala on June 6.
It will be the third consecutive year the six-time Olympic champion from Jamaica will run at the Stadio Olimpico, Local organizers announced on Tuesday. Rome is the opening European meet in the Diamond League.
Bolt has also committed to run other race events at the Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway, on June 13, the Golden Spike in the Czech city of Ostrava on June 27, and the Areva Meeting in Paris on July 6, as part of his preparations for the world championships to be held in Moscow from August 10 to 18.
Bolt won gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at last year’s London Olympics and is aiming to repeat the triple feat in Moscow.
Bolt won the 100m in Rome in the past two years, clocking 9.91 seconds in 2011 and 9.76 last year. On both occasions, former world record-holder Asafa Powell was runner-up and Christophe Lemaitre of France was third.
Rome organizers have not yet announced who will be running against Bolt this time.
Bolt’s 100m record of 9.58 was set at the 2009 world championship final in Berlin.
