Oslo Diamond League Event by Event Preview

Posted by: Watch Athletics

Nineteen Tokyo Olympic medallists will headline the Bislett Games, a Wanda Diamond League meeting, in the historic Bislett Stadium in Oslo. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Armand Duplantis, Valarie Allman and Wojciech Nowicki are the four Olympic gold medallists in action in the Norwegian capital. 

Dream Mile: 

Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen leads a star-studded line-up in the traditional Dream Mile, which ends the international program of the Bislett Games. Ingebrigtsen will be chasing his second win over the mile distance this season after claiming the victory at the Bowerman Mile in 3:49.76. In his build-up to the Dream Mile Ingebrigtsen tested his shape with two wins in the in the 5000m in 13:02.03 in San Juan Capistrano (California) and in the 800 metres at the Trond Mohn Games in Bergen in 1:47.22 

Ingebrigtsen set the national record of 3:47.24 in the Bowerman Mile in Eugene last year and European records in the 1500m with 3:28.32 in Tokyo and in the 5000m with 12:48.45 in Florence. 

None of the Ingebrigtsen brothers have ever claimed the win in the Dream Mile in front of their home fans. Jakob won an only- under 20-mile race at this meeting in 2017. 

Ingebrigtsen will take on Jake Wightman from Great Britain, who will be looking to continue his recent good period of form on the Wanda Diamond League circuit after his win in the 1500m in Rabat in 3:32.62. 

The line-up also features Mohamed Katir, who broke three national records in the 1500m (3:28.76 in Monaco), in the 3000m (7:27.64 in Gateshead) and in the 5000m (12:50.79 in Florence). 

Men’s pole vault: 

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis will be chasing his third Diamond League win this season after claiming victories in Doha with 6.02m and Eugene with 5.91. The 22-year Swedish star also cleared 6.01m at the Continental Tour in Hengelo. Last March Duplantis broke his own world record with 6.20 at the World Championships in Belgrade. 

Duplantis set the Bislett Games record with 6.01m last year and broke the meeting record in each of his four other victories last year in Stockholm with 6.02m, Paris with 6.01m, Brussels with 6.05m and Zurich with 6.06m. 

Duplantis will face two-time world champion Sam Kendricks, seven-time Diamond League champion Renaud Lavillenie and two-time Olympic medallist Thiago Braz Da Silva. Kendricks won in Oslo in 2019 with 5.91m and went on to take the world title with 5.97m in Doha later that year. Lavillenie claimed four wins in Oslo in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016. Renaud’s younger brother Valentin, who won the European Indoor silver medal in Torun 2021 and finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022, will be in action on Thursday.

Home fans will cheer for the Norwegian pole vault trio formed by Paul Haugen Lillefosse, who set the national record by clearing 5.85m last weekend in Bergen, and brothers Sondre Guttormsen and Simen Guttormsen. Sondre finished third at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene with 5.81m and won the NCAA title with 5.75m last weekend. 

Another man to watch is Ben Broeders from Belgium, who improved his national record to 5.85m last weekend.  

Men’s 110 metres hurdles: 

Devon Allen will return to the track for his European debut just four days after setting the third-fastest time in history in the men’s 110m hurdles with 12.84 in the USATF Grand Prix in New York. Allen finished fourth in the Olympic final in Tokyo and won two Diamond League races in Lausanne and Zurich last year. The two-time US champion will compete in his final season this year before starting his National Football League career for the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Allen will take on 2016 Olympic champion Omar McLeod from Jamaica and last year’s European Indoor gold medallist Wilhelm Belocian from France, Aaron Mallett, who won in Turku last Tuesday in 13.22, South American champion Rafael Pereira from Brazil, who won at the Memorial Janusz Kusocinski in Chorzow in 13.28, European Under 23 champion Asler Martinez from Spain, Jason Joseph, Swiss record holder with 13.12 last year, and Paolo Dal Molin, Italian record holder with 13.27 and European Indoor champion in Torun 2021. 

Men’s 400 metres hurdles: 

Unfortunately, world record holder Karsten Warholm has been forced to pull out of the Oslo race due to an injury during the Rabat race, but it’s going to be a high-quality competition. 

Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos won the Olympic bronze medal setting the third-fastest time in history with 46.72. Dos Santos is undefeated in the 400m hurdles and won the first two Diamond League races of the season in Doha in 47.24 in very windy conditions and 47.23 in Eugene, setting the second and the third-fastest performances in his career. 

Dos Santos will go head-to-head against Estonia’s Rasmus Magi, who broke the national record with 47.82 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku and finished sixth in the Olympic final in Tokyo, world 400m indoor bronze medallist Carl Bengstrom from Sweden, who finished fourth at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene setting his PB with 48.52, Yasmani Copello from Turkey, Olympic bronze in Rio 2016 and winner in Oslo in 48,79, Wilfried Happio from France, who won the European Under 23 gold medal in 2019, and Sokhwakana Zazini, a world under 20 champion in Tampere 2018. 

Women’s 400 metres hurdles: 

Femke Bol started her outdoor season with a world all-time best of 36.86 in Ostrava and won her first two 400m hurdles races in Hengelo with 53.94 and Rome with 53.02. The Dutch hurdler will chase her second consecutive win in Oslo, one of her five Diamond League victories last year. Her additional goal is to break the long-standing meeting record held by Jamaica’s Deon Hemmings since 1997.

Bol, who won the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo improving the European record to 52.03, will face Ukrainian hurdlers Anna Rhyzykova (PB 52.96) and Viktoriya Tkachuk, who finished fifth and sixth in the Olympic final, British hurdlers Jessie Knight, who set her PB of 54.09 in Oordegem this year, and Lina Nielsen, who finished fourth at the Golden Gala in Rome in 54.73. 

Women’s 5000 metres:

World record holder Letesenbet Gidey will chase her first win this season after finishing second in the 5000m in Eugene in 14:24.29 and in the 10000m in Hengelo in 30:44.27. The Ethiopian runner, who holds world records in the 5000, 10000m and half marathon, will face 1500m world indoor champion and record holder Gudaf Tsegay, 2015 world champion and former 10000m Olympic champion Almaz Ayana, 2016 world indoor silver medallist Dawit Seyaum, European silver medallist Eilish McColgan, who set the national 5000m record with 14:28.55 in Oslo in 2021 and won the 10000m in Hengelo in 30:19.02 this year, world 5000m bronze medallist Konstanze Klosterhalfen from Germany, and former 5000m and 10000m European champion Yasemin Can from Turkey, European cross country champion Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal from Norway. 

Men’s 5000 metres: 

Two-time world indoor champion Samuel Tefera from Ethiopia will run the second 5000m race of his career after clocking 13:06.86 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. Tefera will face his compatriots Getnet Wale, Telahun Bekele and Milkesha Mengesha, who hold sub-13 minutes PB. Wale finished fifth in the 5000m in Eugene with 13:11.68 and third in the 3000m steeplechase with 8:06.74. Mengesha clocked 13:02.42 in the 5000m in Rome and 27:00.24 in the 10000m in Hengelo. 

Women’s 800 metres: 

Olympic silver medallist and Diamond League champion Keely Hodgkinson will be aiming to win her third 800m race in the circuit this season after her victories in Birmingham in 1:58.63 and in Eugene in 1:57.72. The British star won the Diamond League final in Zurich last year and ran the sixth-fastest indoor time with 1:57.20 in Birmingham last February. 

Hodgkinson will go up against her compatriots Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie. Hodgkinson won her only head-to-head clash in the 800m against Muir at the British Championships last year. 

Muir won 11 Diamond League races in her career, including the 1500m in Oslo in 2015 with 4:00.39. The Scottish star set her 800m PB clocking 1:56.73 in Monaco in 2021 and went on to win the Olympic silver medal in the 1500m in Tokyo setting the British record with 3:54.30.  Her training partner Jemma Reekie finished fourth in the 800m in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1:56.90. 

The line-up features Doha 2019 world outdoor champion Halimah Nakaayi from Uganda, Tokyo Olympic finalist Natoya Goule from Jamaica, who set her national record of 1:56.15 in Monaco in 2015 and won the Diamond League meeting in Brussels, Renelle Lamote from France, who finished second in Rome last week behind Athing Mu, Diribe Welteji from Ethiopia, who broke the 4 minutes barrier twice in the 1500m in Ostrava with 3:59.19 and Montreuil with 3:59.48 and set an 800m PB with 1:58.28, and Hedda Hynne, who set the Norwegian record of 1:58.10 in Bellinzona in 2020. 

Women’s discus throw: 

Last year’s Olympic champion Valarie Allman holds the eight best throws in the world this year and improved her North American record to 71.46m. Allman started her Diamond League campaign with two consecutive wins in Birmingham with 67.85m and Eugene with 68.35m. 

Allman won the Olympic title in Tokyo and the Diamond League final in Zurich and is looking to extend her winning streak against Olympic silver medallist Kristin Pudenz from Germany and two-time Olympic gold medallist Sandra Perkovic from Croatia, who set her seasonal best of 67.26m in Birmingham last May. Pudenz finished third in Eugene with 62.58m and improved her PB to 66.94m in Schoenebeck. 

Women’s shot put: 

The women’s shot put reunites the top eight finishers from the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade last March. World and European indoor champion Auriol Dongmo from Portugal will square off against US Chase Ealey, who set the second-best performance in the world this year with 19.98m in Hengelo, 2019 world silver medallist Danniell Thomas Dodd from Jamaica, US Maggie Ewen, last year’s Diamond League champion and second in Doha this year with 19.32m, Sarah Mitton, Canadian record holder with 19.58m, Jessica Schilder from the Netherlands, world indoor bronze medallist this year with 19.48m, and Fanny Roos, Swedish record holder, European Indoor silver medallist with a national record of 19.29m in Torun 2021. 

Men’s hammer throw: 

The men’s hammer throw is not a Diamond League discipline, but it features a very strong field that includes the top four finishers at the Olympic Games in Tokyo: Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki, silver medallist Elvind Henriksen, bronze medallist and four-time world champion Pawel Fajdek and fourth placer Mykhaylo Kokhan. The line-up also features world bronze medallist Bence Halasz. Nowicki won four of his five competitions this year and set two world-leading marks in two Continental Tour meetings in Nairobi (81.43m) and Chorzow (81.58m). Fajdek also threw over the 80 metres barrier with 80.19m in Bydgoszcz. The hammer throw is scheduled in the pre-program at 18.51.

Men’s 400 metres: 

Tokyo Olympic medallist Kirani James from Grenada will run his third Diamond League race this season after finishing second in Eugene in 44.02 and first in Rome in 44.54. James will face Liemarvin Bonevacia from the Netherlands and Isaac Makwala from Botswana, who won the silver and bronze medals in the 4x400 relay in Tokyo, and Alexander Ogando from the Dominican Republic, who improved his PB in the 400m to 44.68in Chorzow this year. 

Men’s 100 metres: 

Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs was due to compete in Oslo, but he had to pull out of the 100 race because of an injury. Another Olympic champion André De Grasse will line up on the Bislett Games. The Canadian sprint star will return to Oslo for the fourth time in his career. In his past appearances on the track of the Bislett Stadium, he won three times in the 100m in 2016 (10.07) and in 2017 (10.01) and in the 200m in 2021 (20.09). 

Last year De Grasse won the bronze medal in the 100m in 9.89,  the gold medal in the 200m in the national record of 19.62 and the silver in the 4x100 relay in 37.70 at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. He will need Diamond League points in his bid to reach the Diamond League final in Zurich after finishing fourth in Birmingham and ninth in Eugene. 

De Grasse will face 2018 European silver medallist Reece Prescod from Great Britain, who won the Golden Spike race in 9.93 last May and  Olympic and world finalist Akani Simbine from South Africa, who set the previous African record clocking 9.84 in Szekesfehervar last year. 

Benjamin Azamati from Ghana will make his Diamond League debut three months after setting the national record with 9.90 at the Texas Relays in Austin. 

The line-up features Yupun Abeykoon from Sri Lanka, who improved his PB to 10.06 in Dessau last May, former World Under 18 champion Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, who clocked 10.04 at the Japanese Championships in Osaka, Ojie Edoburun from Great Britain, European Under 23 champion in Bydgoszcz 2017, and Rohan Browning from Australia, who set his PB of 10.01 at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. 

Men’s long jump: 

Olympic and world indoor long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou will battle against Swiss decathlon and long jump star Simon Ehammer. Tentoglou beat Ehammer in their previous head-to-head clash in Rabat with 8.27m. Ehammer set the long jump world seasonal best with 8.45m in the Combined Events meeting in Goetzis last May and won the world indoor silver medal in the heptathlon in Belgrade last May. 

Another jumper to watch is Thobias Montler from Sweden, who won the Diamond League final in Zurich last year and finished second to Tentoglou at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade with a national record of 8.38m. 

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