A Close Up On… Stockholm

One of the great things about the IAAF Diamond League series of meetings is the diversity on offer. From Scandinavia to China, Southern Europe to the USA, every meeting has developed a rich history, in some cases stretching back decades.


The Lowdown


First organised in 1967, Stockholm’s DN Galan takes place in one of the most historic venues in world sport, the 1912 Olympic Stadium. The 14,000 capacity venue may be one of the smallest on the IAAF Diamond League circuit and, indeed, one of the smallest stadiums ever to host an Olympic Games, yet nowhere else in the world has seen a larger number of world record performances – 83 as of 2013.


Stockholm itself is the largest city in Scandinavia and the Stockholm Diamond League is Sweden’s premier track and field meeting.


Hometown Heroes


In recent decades Swedish athletes have excelled in the field events. In the 1980s Patrick Sjöberg was an Olympic medalist and world champion and still jointly holds the European record in the high jump, with his 2.42m leap coming in 1987 at DN Galan, the same year that he won the world title in Rome.


Following on from Sjöberg’s successes, Stefan Holm was Olympic and Kajsa Bergqvist World high jump champions in 2004 and 2005 respectively, while the European record holder in the heptathlon, Caroline Kluft, and triple jumper Christian Olsson were also Olympic champions in Athens ten years ago.


In the present day, Sweden’s strengths lie on the track in the middle distances, with their three medalists from the 2014 European Championships all coming from running disciplines. Meraf Bahta took the 5000m title in Zurich with a bold front running performance and will be well supported when she runs over 1500m at DN Galan against Sweden’s 2013 World 1500m champion Abeba Aregawi.


Charlotta Fougberg, the European 3000m steeplechase silver medalist, competes in her specialist event, while the new breed of Swedish athletics stars such as Erica Jarder, Michael Torneus (both long jump) and Kim Amb (javelin) will also hope to entertain the Stockholm crowd.


Iconic Performances


With 83 worlds records over the years, there have been too many iconic performances to mention. Yet, alongside Sjöberg’s magical high jump, Wilson Kipketer’s 1:41.73 800m in 1997, that equalled Sebastian Coe’s 16-year-old world record, still sets hearts racing.


In the IAAF Diamond League era the Olympic Stadium has been the scene of three outright IAAF Diamond League records, the most recent of which came in 2012 when Yuliya Zarapova sped to a 9:05.02 3000m steeplechase, the second fastest time ever seen over the distance.


In 2011 Australia’s Mitchell Watt, that year’s IAAF World Championships silver medalist, jumped 8.54m, his lifetime best in the long jump, while Kenya’s multiple World Champion Vivian Cheruiyot ran 14:20.87 for 5000m, which remains her personal best.


Four other DN Galan meeting records have been set in the IAAF Diamond League era. 2010 was a good year for American athletes, as Christian Cantwell took the shot put with a huge 22.09m and 2005 world champion Bershawn Jackson won the 400m hurdles in 47.65 seconds, a time that only he had bettered in the IAAF Diamond League when he won in Lausanne in the same year.


More recently Sandra Perkovic set a discus meeting record of 68.77m in 2012, while only last year Russia’s Mariya Abakumova threw the furthest javelin ever witnessed in the Olympic stadium with a 68.59m effort.



Dean Hardman for the IAAF Diamond League