In 100 days time, athletics fans the world over will turn their attention to Florence for the third leg of the 2023 Wanda Diamond League. If the city's last outing in the series is anything to go by, they will be in for a treat.
Florence made its Diamond League debut in style back in 2021, and with the Tuscan capital set to host the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala for the second time this season, Florentine fans will be hoping for a repeat of the on-track fireworks they were treated to two years ago.
As well as delivering ahat balmy night at the Stadio Luigi Ridolfi proved to be a breakthrough moment for several athletes who would go on to claim Olympic gold later that summer.
100m hurdles star Jasmine Camacho-Quinn notched up an explosive first win on the Diamond League circuit, smashing the meeting record with an impressive 12.38. It was to be the first of many for the Puerto Rican, who now has seven Diamond League victories under her belt.
She was not the only one breaking meeting records in Florence, meanwhile, as fellow sprint hurdler Omar McLeod equalled the meeting record with a world-leading 13.01, while British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith stormed to 22.06 in the 200m.
It was in the middle and long distance events, however, that the first Florence Diamond League really delivered. In the women's 1500m, Sifan Hassan and Faith Kipyegon slugged it out in a battle for the ages, which the Dutch star narrowly edged in what was her first middle-distance Diamond League win for two years.
Despite clocking a personal best and Kenyan record of 3:53.91, Kipyegon had to make do with second place as Hassan set a new meeting record of 3:53.63.
And then it was Jakob Ingebrigtsen's turn. When he stepped up to the track in Florence, the Norwegian prodigy had still not managed to claim a Diamond League win in the 5000m, despite 1500m victories in Gateshead and Brussels in the preceding months.
By the time he crossed the line, though, there was no doubt that the future 1500m Olympic champion and 5000m world champion could compete with the very best in both disciplines. Ahead of a stacked field which included world record holder Joshua Cheptegei, Ingebrigtsen took more than 13 seconds off his own personal best with a European record of 12:48.45.
It would be another year before he finally got his hands on the Diamond Trophy, but at one stroke, the Norwegian had written himself indelibly into the Diamond League history books.
Both the women's 1500m and the men's 5000m will be back on the programme at this year's Florence Diamond League, which takes place at the Stadio Luigi Ridolfi on June 2nd.
