The newly launched Gold Crown contest is keeping fans and athletes engaged through the six days of competition in Rome, right to the very last event.
With ten Gold Crowns on offer that each come along with 50,000EUR going to the five women and five men who produce the best performances in their group of events. So, who leads the way at the halfway stage?
Group 1: Sprints & Hurdles
Italian Lorenzo Ndele Simonelli, who took the gold in the 110m hurdles, currently has the lead with 1245 points, ahead of his compatriot, 100m winner Marcell Jacobs (1199 points). The men’s 400m winner would need a 44.06 finish in tonight’s (Monday 10) final to take over the lead.
In the 200m final, a 19.83sec finish will be needed for the Gold Crown. Finally, the 400m hurdles on Tuesday event can take away the Gold Crown from the current leader and Karsten Warholm of Norway will have eyes firmly fixed on the prize if he can run 47.72 or better.
For the women’s side 100m hurdles winner Cyrene Samba-Mayele (1249 points) is in pole position. The winners of the women’s 400m final will need to clock 49.01 or quicker to take over. Defending 400m hurdles champion Femke Bol has already praised the speed of the track and will be chasing a time of 52.58 or better to take the Gold Crown. Whilst the 200m finalists will have a target of 21.88 or better.
Group 2: Middle & Long Distance
Italian women’s 5000m winner Nadia Battocletti leads this far, with her 14:35.29 finish worth 1211 points. However, if the women’s 10.000m final sees a finish time below 30:40.37, the winner will take the lead. Then, the women’s 800m final on Wednesday needs a 1:57.27 finish respectively, to take away the crown from Battocletti.
Among the men, France’s 800m gold medallist Gabriel Tual (1177 points) has the lead. The Gold Crown could be seized by the 3000m steeplechase winner, who will need 8:17.57 finish, achieved by many of the athletes on the start list.
The last chances for the crown will be battled out in the 1500m and 10,000m finals on Wednesday, where 3:34.78 and 27:30.63 are the targets. Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will be among those chasing the prize in the former.
Group 3: Throws
With all but one of the events finished, Italy’s shot put winner Leonardo Fabbri is in like for the Gold Crown with 1267 points, only to be beaten if the javelin throw on Wednesday sees the winner exceeding 91.67m.
For the women’s side of the category, Croatia’s discus winner Sandra Elkasevic (gold discus throw) leads the standings with 1201 points. Monday’s (10) hammer finalists will need to beat 76.70m to win and Tuesday’s javelin finalists will have 66.66m as a target.
Group 4: Jumps
Greece’s long jump winner Miltiadis Tentoglou (1281 points) has laid down a big marker. But, with Mondo Duplantis in the men’s pole vault final on Wednesday aiming for 6.06m, his lead is fragile.
On the women’s side, Ukrainian high jump super star and gold winner Yaroslava Mahuchikh has good chances to remain in the lead, but the pole vaulter's target of 4.87m is certainly not out of reach.
Group 5: Road, Combined Events and Relays
After halftime of competitions at Roma 2024, Belgium’s heptathlon winner Nafissatou Thiam leads the contest for the Gold Crown and 50.000 Euros, but still can be beaten by the 4x100m and 4x400m relays winners.
On the men’s side, Sweden’s Perseus Karlström (gold 20k race walk) has the lead with 1208 points, but still can lose the gold crown depending on the decathlon on Tuesday as well as 4x100m and 4x400m relays on Wednesday.
Performances are judged using the World Athletics scoring tables which converts what an athlete achieves in the cauldron of championship competition into points.
Annika Saunus for European Athletics