by Nina Vaclavikova
Interviews: Arturo D’Ascanio – Vice President of Polisportiva Triveneto; Ferdinand Omanyala – Kenya (100 meters); Liam Adcock – Australia (Long Jump)
Some of track and field’s most recognizable names, alongside several of the region’s top athletes, are set to compete Saturday at the 19th Triveneto International Meeting, an annual athletics event held at the G. Draghicchio stadium in the Cologna district of Trieste.
Organizers presented the event during a news conference at City Hall on Friday, where local and regional officials highlighted the meeting’s continued growth and its role in the city’s sporting calendar.
The competition, officially known as the Triveneto Meeting – Memorial Jack Benvenuti and Giorgia Liberale, is part of the Challenger series of the World Athletics Continental Tour and is expected to attract competitors from across Europe, Africa and beyond.
Among the headline events is the women’s 100-meter hurdles, where two athletes with strong ties to Trieste — Elisa Di Lazzaro and Nicla Mosetti — are scheduled to compete. Both have represented Italy internationally and are among the most accomplished hurdlers to emerge from the region.
Di Lazzaro, 27, competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and at the World Championships in Eugene, Ore., the following year. Her personal best of 12.90 seconds ranks among the fastest performances by an Italian athlete in the event. Mosetti, 28, a former Italian indoor champion, represented Italy at the 2022 European Championships and won silver at the Mediterranean Games that same year.
The women’s high jump is also expected to draw attention, featuring Italy’s Asia Tavernini and Slovenia’s Lia Apostolovski. Tavernini, whose personal best is 1.92 meters, earned a silver medal at the 2025 World University Games. Apostolovski, who has cleared 1.95 meters, won bronze at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
The men’s 100 meters will include Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya, Africa’s record holder in the event, and Bayanda Walaza of South Africa, who was part of the silver medal-winning 4×100-meter relay team at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Other notable entrants include Italy’s Camil Tecuceanu, a bronze medalist at the 2024 European Championships in the 800 meters, and Australian long jumper Liam Adcock, who claimed bronze at the 2025 World Indoor Championships.
In addition to the invitational events, the meeting will host competitions for youth athletes, masters competitors and para-athletes. Several sprint races will also form part of the High Speed League circuit, a series organized in collaboration with the athletics media platform Queen Atletica.
Competition begins at 3 p.m. with para-athletics events, while the featured invitational competitions are scheduled between 5:40 p.m. and 7:10 p.m. The program concludes with High Speed League races, with the final events expected to finish around 8:30 p.m.
Now approaching its 19th edition, the Triveneto Meeting has become one of northeastern Italy’s established athletics events, combining international competition with opportunities for local athletes to compete on a larger stage.
