World champions Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Femke Bol of the Netherlands will be the featured athletes competing at the Continental Tour Gala dei Castelli in Bellinzona.

The thrill for the home crowd will be provided by Tamberi, who shared the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo with his good friend Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, and then last week won his first title outright at the World Championships in Budapest. 

Tamberi will make his debut here against the likes of European indoor champion Douwe Amels of the Netherlands and Brandon Starc of Australia, the fifth-place finisher at the Tokyo Olympics.

Looking to make a triumphant return to Bellinzona is the Dutch star Bol, who electrified the crowds at the World Championship, rebounding from a stunning fall before the finish of the mixed 4x400m relay with triumphs in the 400m hurdles and an incredible late surge on the anchor leg of the winning women’s 4x400m relay. 

Femke. Freaking. Bol. 👀

What a way to end the 2023 #WorldAthleticsChamps!
pic.twitter.com/rMN6wP0ECw

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) August 27, 2023

Bol is returning here for the first time since making her professional debut at this meet in 2019. Her main competition is likely to come from Swiss champion Yasmin Giger.

 The men’s 400m race will be headlined by world record holder Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa.

 Alison dos Santos of Brazil, the 2022 world champion, is the main protagonist in the men’s 400m hurdles.

 American Nia Ali, the 2019 world champion, will face European champion Pia Skrzyszowska of Poland in the women’s 100m hurdles.

 Mujinga Kambundji of Switzerland, the 2019 World Championships bronze medalist in the 200m, will be the favorite in the women’s 100m.

 In the women’s 800m, the race favorite figures to be Jamaica’s Natoya Goule. Her competitors include Audrey Werro, the 2022 World U20 silver medalist, and Rachel Pellaud of Switzerland.

 2021 European champion Angelica Moser of Switzerland figures to be the class of the women’s pole vault field.