Sarah Healy produced a magnificent finishing kick to win the 1,500 metres at the Rome Diamond League meeting on Friday night.

Just like she did in winning the European Indoor title over 3,000m last March, Healy bided her time over the last 150 metres, holding third coming into the homestretch behind leader Susan Ejore from Kenya, and Australia’s Sarah Billings.

Just when Billings moved in front and looked poised for victory, Healy came again and took the win in 3:59.17, a rare Irish victory on the Diamond League stage inside the Stadio Olimpico.

Billings held on for second in 3:59.24, with fellow Australian Abbey Caldwell coming through for third in 3:59.32.

It was Healy’s first outdoor 1,500m race this season, the 24-year-old already improving her 3,000m best to 8:27.02 in finishing third in the Rabat Diamond League 10 days ago.

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In a stacked field of 15 women, 13 of which had run sub-4:00, Healy again showed her growing confidence since her indoor success in March, which she followed with a sixth-place finish in the World Indoors.

She will race the 1,500m again in Paris on June 20th. Her best stands at 3:57.46, run at the Paris Diamond League last July, which looks under threat, as does Ciara Mageean’s Irish record of 3:55.87, clocked in Brussels in 2023.

Cathal Doyle ran a lifetime best of 3:32.15 in the men’s 1,500m earlier in the night, although that left him back in 14th place, where the 16 finishers all ran sub-3:33.

Victory went to Azeddine Habz from France, in a season best of 3:29.72, ahead of Kenya’s 2019 World champion Cheruiyot Timothy, who clocked 3:39.75.

It took a full second off Doyle’s previous best of 3:33.15 set last year, the Dublin athlete moving closer to qualification for the World Championships in Tokyo in September.

Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet, the double Olympic champion from Paris last summer, produced another stellar run to clock the second fastest 5,000m time in history with her 14:03.69, just two and half seconds outside the world record.

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