Oslo: Five things to look out for

By Jakob Ingebrigtsen's high standards, it was hardly the perfect start to a Diamond League title defence. Nine months after winning both the 1500m and 5000m titles in Eugene last season, the Norwegian distance star returned to Eugene for his first Diamond League appearance of 2024, only to suffer a surprise defeat to British rival Josh Kerr in the 1500m. Ingebrigtsen insisted he was happy with the performance given his recent struggles for fitness, but he will no doubt be keen to go one better in front of his home crowd in Oslo this Thursday. Headlining the 1500m once again, he goes up against the likes of Timothy Cheruiyot and Stewart McSweyn as he looks to rekindle the form which saw him break the European record at Bislett last year. 

Like Ingebrigtsen, Jamaican sprint star Shericka Jackson also heads into this season as double defending champion, having claimed the Diamond Trophy in both the 100m and 200m in 2023. The Jamaican made a winning start to her 200m campaign in Marrakech earlier this month, easing to victory with a season's best of 22.82 against a field in which she was the clear favourite. She may face a sterner test in Oslo, where she lines up against Ivorian legend Marie-Josée Ta Lou and in-form British star Daryll Neita, who has won the 200m in Suzhou and the 100m in Doha so far this season. 

As well as the men's 1500m, home fans will also have their eyes glued to the men's 400m hurdles in Oslo, as Norwegian star Karsten Warholm launches his 2024 Diamond League campaign. Though his main priority will be defending his Olympic title in Paris, Warholm may also feel he has a point to prove in the Diamond League this year. Amid injuries in 2023 and an unexpected dip in form towards the end of last season, it is now more than two years since he last got his hands on the Diamond Trophy. In front of his home crowd at Bislett, he will face some of the very best of his discipline in Alison Dos Santos and Kyron McMaster. For the Norwegian, it is a chance to avenge his defeat to McMaster in Zurich last year and prove once again that he is the firm favourite to be crowned Diamond League champion. Whether or not he can attack the world record as he did in Oslo back in 2021 is another matter entirely. 

Warholm is not the only world record holder hitting the track in Oslo. In the men's 5000m, Ugandan star Joshua Cheptegei - whose 12:35.36 at the Monaco Diamond League in 2020 is still the fastest time ever over five kilometeres - will go toe-to-toe with a stellar field which includes his compatriot Jacob Kiplimo and former Wanda Diamond League champion Hagos Gebrhiwet. As in previous years, the long distance event remains one of the most hotly contested disciplines, and whoever wins in Oslo will be the third different winner in three Diamond League competitions so far this season. After two Ethiopian triumphs for Lamecha Girma and Selemon Barega in Xiamen and Suzhou, Cheptegei and Kiplimo will be hoping to fly the flag for Uganda in Norway. 

One of the most eye-catching performances of the Wanda Diamond League season so far was Prudence Sekgodiso's brilliant victory in the women's 800m in Marrakech earlier this month. The South African star had never claimed a Diamond League victory prior to 2024, yet she ran like a seasoned champion in Morocco to beat Habitam Alemu and set what was then a world lead of 1:57.26. After Mary Moraa and Keely Hodgkinson both went faster in Eugene last weekend, Sekgodiso has a chance to bite back and claim a second win of the season in Oslo.