It may be hard to top last weekend's record-breaking action, but Oslo's Bislett Games look set to give Meeting de Paris a run for its money in terms of quality. As Wayde Van Niekerk, Mondo Duplantis and Yulimar Rojas all get their 2023 campaigns underway, here are five things to look out for at the Oslo Diamond League.
13 June, 2023
Oslo: Five things to look out for
Photo: Diamond League AG - Karsten Warholm broke the world record the last time he competed at his home meeting in Oslo.
Van Niekerk returns
It has been a long road back from injury for Wayde Van Niekerk, but the 400m world record holder will finally return to the Wanda Diamond League on Friday, six years after his last appearance on the circuit. Van Niekerk's last Diamond League appearance came in Monaco in 2017, just a year after he broke the world record at the Olympic Games in Rio. The 30-year-old has made a steady return since 2021, and is now in fine form, having clocked 44.21 in Kingston earlier this month. Up against the likes of Vernon Norwood and Muzala Samukonga in Oslo, he will be hoping to make a winning return to Diamond League action and take a potential first step towards his first ever series title.
Home heroes
Norwegian fans have always had plenty to cheer at the Bislett Games in recent years, and they will be counting on their home heroes to deliver some more memorable performances on Friday. 1500m superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen will be chomping at the bit, having just set a new world best over two miles at the Paris Diamond League. Karsten Warholm, meanwhile, launches his Diamond League campaign on home soil after missing much of last season through injury. The last time the 400m hurdles star competed at his home meeting, he broke the world record. This time, he may well be happy enough with eight Diamond League points.
Regal Rojas
Two-time Wanda Diamond League champion Yulimar Rojas will begin the hunt for a third successive Diamond Trophy on Friday as she gets her title defence underway in the women's triple jump. With just one competition under her belt so far this year, Rojas will want to set down a marker to the competition when she takes on the likes of Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk and Leyis Perez Hernandez in Norway. Perez in particular is one to watch after her world lead and PB of 14.84m saw her take victory in Rabat last month. World record holder Rojas, however, remains the firm favourite to take the title this year.
Can Duplantis connect four?
Another star jumper who is eyeing a third title this season is pole vault world record holder Mondo Duplantis. The Swede is also making his first Diamond League appearance of the season in Oslo, buoyed in part by a recent 6.11m jump in Hengelo. Duplantis has a sparkling record in the Norwegian capital, having won here in each of the last three seasons. If he can make it four in a row on Friday, he will take his first step towards another Diamond Trophy.
Sprints on a knife edge
The women's sprints remain one of the most difficult battles to call this season, with four different winners in the four different 100m and 200m races so far in 2023. In Oslo, reigning 200m champion Shericka Jackson is aiming to pick up her first 100m win of the season after her defeat to Sha'Carri Richardson in Doha. Ivorian legend Marie-Josée Ta Lou, meanwhile, can make it back-to-back wins in the shorter distance after her triumph in Florence, while Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith is also a force to be reckoned with, having claimed at least one Diamond League victory in every season bar one since 2018.
