ROME – Sprint hurdler Antonio Alkana will be eager to gain further momentum in his 2019 campaign when he turns out at the fourth leg of the IAAF Diamond League series in Rome on Thursday night.
Alkana, who set a season best of 13.37 seconds to win the 110m hurdles race at a European Permit meeting in Prague earlier this week, is the only South African athlete in the entry lists ahead of the Diamond League meeting in the Italian capital.
Though he is facing a strong field, Alkana is expected to put up a fight in his specialist discipline.
Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega of Spain and former world champion Sergey Shubenkov (competing as a neutral athlete) are the only athletes in the line-up to have run quicker than the South African this year.
The 110m hurdles race is scheduled to be held at 9.35pm SA time.