Nine Olympic champions from Paris 2024 will be in action when the Wanda Diamond League continues at the Bislett Games in Oslo this Thursday. Here are five things to look out for at the sixth leg of the Road to the Final.
Showdown in the hurdles
It isn’t every day that the three fastest 400m hurdlers in the world go head to head. World record holder Karsten Warholm, Olympic champion Rai Benjamin and Diamond League champion Alison Dos Santos have redefined their event in recent years, but direct showdowns between the three of them have been rare outside of the major championships. This weekend, however, will see the three superstars race each other twice in the space of three days, as they take on the 300m hurdles in Oslo before returning to the 400m hurdles in Stockholm. The last time they met in the Diamond League – in Monaco last season – it was Benjamin who triumphed, in what proved to be a dress rehearsal for his Olympic gold medal win a few weeks later. In Oslo, though, it is arguably Warholm who goes in as favourite. The Norwegian will have the home crowd behind him, and he also has form in the 300m hurdles this year, having a set a new world best of 33.05 at the Diamond League season opener in Xiamen in April.
Alfred launches title defence
St. Lucian sprint star Julien Alfred made history last season when she became her country’s first ever Olympic medallist with gold in the women’s 100m, yet that wasn’t the only piece of silverware she picked up in 2024. A few weeks after the Olympics, Alfred also became the first St. Lucian Diamond League champion in history, with victory at the series final in Brussels cementing her status as the woman to beat over 100m. On Thursday, she will launch her title defence with her first Diamond League appearance and first 100m race of the 2025 season. Though she goes up against a strong field which includes British stars Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita, few would bet against the 24-year-old St. Lucian.
Duplantis back in action
After 11 world records in the last five years and two in the last Diamond League season alone, it can sometimes seem surprising when Mondo Duplantis doesn’t rewrite the history books at a Diamond League meeting. Yet aside from the breathtaking heights, one of the most impressive things about Duplantis is his consistency. The Swedish star has competed in 39 Diamond League meetings since 2020 and lost only four times, making him one of the series’ most extraordinary serial winners. In Oslo, he will be aiming for his third win of the season after opening with a victory in Xiamen and a meeting record in Keqiao. As for the world record: nothing is guaranteed, but Duplantis has been candid about his aim to surpass 6.30m sooner rather than later. Conditions permitting, every Diamond League meeting is a chance to get closer to that mark.
Yavi and Cherotich resume rivalry
One of the most thrilling moments of the Diamond League season so far came in the women’s 3000m steeplechase in Doha, when series champion Faith Cherotich defeated Olympic gold medallist Winfred Yavi in dramatic fashion to add another layer to one of the sport’s great burgeoning rivalries. The two women face off again in Oslo, with Yavi hoping to get revenge for defeat in Doha and Cherotich aiming to consolidate her position at the top of the standings.
World record chase in the 5000m
Oslo has a special history in the distance events, and at this year’s Bislett Games, there will be more than a few men hoping to get close to the 5000m world record, which was set by Joshua Cheptegei at the Monaco Diamond League five years ago. Last season, Hagos Gebrhiwet came within a second and a half of Cheptegei’s mark in Oslo, and the Ethiopian will be out to put in a similar performance when he returns to Norway on Thursday. Yet he is not the only man who is capable of doing so in a hugely strong field which includes his compatriots Yomif Kejelcha, Berihu Aregawi and Telahun Bekele as well Kenyan stars Jacob Krop and Nicolas Kipkorir.
