Sawt Falasteen - Duplantis headlines Oslo Diamond League, Warholm eyes 300m hurdles showdown

AFP Sport looks at five stand-out events at the sixth meeting of the 15-event Diamond League circuit where athletes have collectively won more than 15 individual Olympic gold medals and over 20 world championship golds:

Women's 100m

Julien Alfred made history at the Olympics last summer when she won a first ever medal for her tiny island homeland of Saint Lucia.

Her personal best of 10.72sec is matched in the Oslo field by 36-year-old Ivorian veteran Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith.

But Alfred will likely come under more pressure from the British pair of Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita.

Men's 5,000m

Oslo's Bislett Stadium is known as a venue where world records are regularly set. When a world-class field lines up for the 5,000m, they'll be chasing what could be the 72nd world record set at the venue since Adriaan Paulen established the first one back in 1924.

Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet missed it by just over a second when he clocked 12:36.73 in the Norwegian capital last season.

This year, both Gebrhiwet and his compatriots Yomif Kejelcha, who finished second last year in 12:38.95, and Berihu Aregawi, with a personal best of 12:40.45, are all lining up with one goal in mind: breaking Joshua Cheptegei’s world record of 12:35.36.

Men's 800m

If the race over 5km proves to be a mouth-watering clash, also don't rule out the 800m, where meet organisers have brought together what they say is the strongest line-up they've ever assembled.

Kenyan legend David Rudisha holds the stadium record of 1:42.04 from 2010.

But that could be under threat from compatriot and reigning Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Algeria's Djamel Sedjati and France's Gabriel Tual, respectively second, fifth and sixth fastest ever over the two-lap race.

Men's pole vault

Duplantis remains head and shoulders above the rest, having bettered his own world record to 6.27m in February on the back of a 2024 season when he not only won Olympic gold but also broke the world record three times.

The US-born Swede has also registered the 11 highest jumps in the history of the sport, improving the world record one centimetre at a time from 6.17 to 6.27.

He is the undisputed king of the event and was also named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for 2024. Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt is the only track and field athlete to have previously won the award.

The world's top eight will compete in Oslo, three of them having cleared the 6m mark, notably Greece's Emmanouil Karalis, who won Olympic silver in Paris and has a personal best of 6.01m and American Sam Kendricks (6.06).

Men's 300m hurdles

Home favourite Karsten Warholm headlines a sparkling field in the 300m hurdles, an event that was granted official status earlier this year, but is yet to have a ratified world record. The Norwegian clocked a best of 33.05sec in Xiamen this season.

Warholm, reigning world champion and world record holder in the 400m hurdles, will be up against Bislett debutant Rai Benjamin of the USA, the Olympic champion, and Brazil's Alison dos Santos.

The trio's personal bests are the three fastest times ever run in the 400m hurdles. Between them they own the 19 fastest races in the event's history and also won all medals at both the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.

Now it's time for crowing rights in the shortened race.

"I believe the introduction of the 300m hurdles can help bring in new athletes now that the long hurdles expand from one to two events," said Warholm.

N.Awad--SF-PST