The Diamond League season has well and truly sprung into action, with many thrilling performances from top athletes lighting up the Golden Gala last week.
Now it is Oslo’s turn to up the ante as the Bislett Games prepares for take off on Thursday 13th June, with this one boasting a selection of the sport’s most exciting young stars.
European champion and world under 20 pole vault record holder Mondo Duplantis will be on show, along with Sydney McLaughlin, double European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Diamond Trophy winner Selemon Barega.
Combined with another mix of athletics’ very best senior stars, this should make for a rather tantalising prospect.
How to watch
Once again live coverage of the event will be available from 1800 BST until 2100 Eurosport 2, starting with the women’s 400m hurdles Diamond Race.
Highlights will also be available on BBC Two from Saturday 15th June between 1pm-2pm.
Live updates and results from the event can also be followed on the official Diamond League website and twitter account @Diamond_League with highlights also available on their official Youtube channel.
The javelin field for the @BislettGames contains seven men with PB's of 89m+. Seven! 🔥#OsloDL 🇳🇴: https://t.co/PWoKz3txWC pic.twitter.com/JbTQgbeqTs
— Wanda Diamond League (@Diamond_League) June 12, 2019
Track
Oslo will be rallying behind their long distance heroes Jakob and Filip Ingebrigtsen as they take on the closing Dream Mile race. They face a serious battle against Kenyans Bethwell Birgen and Vincent Kebet, while Olympic 800m medallist Clayton Murphy could assert some strong speed into the race to also trouble former world indoor medallist Aman Wote and 1000m world record holder Ayanleh Souleiman.
A narrow loss in the opening 100m men’s event will see Diamond Trophy winner Christian Coleman aim to bounce back on Oslo. Fellow American Michael Rodgers also features, along with European silver medallist Reece Prescod.
Elsewhere, no Dina Asher-Smith in the women’s 200m this time leaves the door open for a new Diamond League winner in the event, as world champion Dafne Schippers and NACAC champion Jenna Prandini set their sights on the win after losing out in Stockholm.
Dalilah Muhammad will he hoping for a third successive 400m hurdles win this year after comfortable victories in the first two, fellow American Sydney McLaughlin will be her closest challenger, with the 19-year-old already looking strong in Shanghai.
By contrast, the women’s 100m hurdles will see its third different winner so far and will be closely fought between Olympic champion Brianna McNeal, Olympic silver medallist Nia Ali and Sharika Nelvis, who just lost out to Kendra Harrison in Stockholm.
The men’s 3000m sees Selemon Barega looking for a winning return after his very narrow 5000m loss in Rome. This time he faces world 5000m champion Muktar Edris, with athletes such as Birhanu Balew, Commonwealth double champion Joshua Cheptegei and Stewart McSweyn all firmly in the mix for what should be a closely fought contest.
Meanwhile, one big question will be on everyone’s mind when women’s 3000m steeplechase takes place; just who can stop Beatrice Chepkoech? The world record holder has been dominant as ever so far and will once again be the favourite in Oslo, as fellow Kenyans Nora Jeruto and Celliphine Chepteek Chespol look to topple her.
World champion Karsten Warholm will be spurred on by an adoring home crowd in the 400m hurdles. His main rival is expected to be Commonwealth champion Kyron McMaster after Abderrahman Samba withdrew because of a hip problem.
Field
So far world champion Sam Kendricks has had it all his own way in the men’s pole vault, with two relatively safe opening victories.
This time however, the American faces a truly tough proposition in the young, exciting vaulting talent Mondo Duplantis. The 19-year-old Swede was almost unstoppable last year and once again sits top of the world rankings, promising a very fierce contest as the road to the final rages on.
Mariya Latitskene’s winning return to high jump action in Stockholm meanwhile sees her looking to kick on in Oslo, facing Doha winner Yuliya Levchenko and Sweden’s Erika Kinsey, with the 2.00m barrier still remaining untouched so far this year.
Also aiming for another victory in the defence of their Diamond League crown is javelin thrower Andreas Hoffman. However, his fellow Germans will be looking to end his winning run early with world champion Johannes Vetter, along with Thomas Rohler and Bernard Seifert all waiting to pounce, while European medallist Magnus Kirt will also be a strong challenger.
World triple jump leader Shanieka Ricketts meanwhile will venture outside of Jamaica for the first time this year as she searches for her first ever Diamond League victory after coming close last year.
However, she will run into the dominant double Diamond Trophy winner Caterine Ibarguen, who will enter the Diamond League’s triple jump fray for the first time this year and will not settle for anything but a win.
Elsewhere the struggle for shot put dominance will feature world champion Lijiao Gong, who despite leading the world rankings is still looking for a first Diamond League win. Revenge will certainly be on her mind as she once again takes on Chase Ealey who beat Gong on her home turf in Shanghai.
Aliona Dubitskaya will also have confidence coming into the event after winning the non-scoring shot put event in Stockholm.
Full start-lists and results from the meeting can all be found here, as well as timings for each event.
