It was a magical evening in the land of the Northern Lights on Thursday as the world’s best athletes battled it out for valuable points on the Road to the Final.
Karsten Warholm delighted the home crowd and flabbergasted even himself, Sydney McLaughlin sparkled on her Diamond League debut, and Norah Jeruto sprung a surprise in the steeplechase.
Meet in a minute
To catch up with all the best action from the Bislett Stadium in the space of just 60 seconds, click here and feast your eyes on our quickfire compilation of the Oslo highlights.
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Caterine Ibargüen is defending not one but two Diamond Trophies this season, having stormed to victory in both the long jump and triple last year. After disappointment in the long jump in Rome last week, she proved her superiority in the triple in Oslo, setting a new world lead with her winning jump of 14.79m before declaring the Oslo track to be "magical".
Mariya Lasitskene also set a new world lead, clearing the two-metre mark to come away with a comfortable win in the women’s high jump.
There were further 2019 bests on the track, as Diamond Trophy holder Christian Coleman picked up his first win of the season in 9.85, just six hundredths of a second off Usain Bolt’s meeting record.
Dafne Schippers, meanwhile, shone in Oslo once again as she soared past the rest of the field in the 200m to pick up an impressive victory in the 200m.
In the long distance events, Selemon Barega bounced back from his surprise defeat to Telahun Haile Bekele in Rome, taking victory in the 3000m with a world leading and personal best busting 7:32.17.
The women’s steeplechase and 400m hurdles both through up surprises meanwhile, with the out-and-out favourites coming in second. In the steeplechase, world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech suffered her first defeat in a year despite clocking a season’s best of 9:04.30. The time was simply not enough to catch a superb Norah Jeruto, who cracked the meeting record and her PB with 9:04.71.
Dalilah Muhammad has been almost unbeatable in the 400m hurdles in recent years, taking the Diamond Trophy home with her in both 2017 and 2018, but it now appears that she has some serious competition in the form of fellow American Sydney McLaughlin.
Running in her first ever Diamond League meet, McLaughlin clawed her way past Muhammad on the home straight, coming in just a metre ahead of her compatriot to claim all eight points and throw down the gauntlet on the Road to the Final.
Performance of the meet
As expected, however, it was Norwegian hero Karsten Warholm who defined the meet. Even in the absence of his great rival Abderrahman Samba, Warholm managed to clock a European record of 47.33 as a packed out Bislett Stadium cheered him on. Upon crossing the finish line, he seemed barely able to believe it himself, repeatedly shouting "what!?" at the top of his voice. Hats off.