The headline race of Thursday’s Diamond League meet in Oslo is arguably the most exciting event in all of track and field these days.
Norwegian Karsten Warholm will contest the 400m hurdles for the first time this year, live on Peacock with coverage starting at 2 p.m. ET.
Already in 2024, rivals American Rai Benjamin and Brazilian Alison dos Santos posted the fastest 400m hurdles times ever recorded before June 1 in a calendar year.
Warholm, the reigning Olympic and world champion and world record holder (45.94 seconds), and Benjamin and dos Santos combine to own the 12 fastest times in history.
In Oslo, Warholm’s target may be Benjamin’s time of 46.64 from May 18, best in the world this year.
Or it may be simply to win, which could be a challenge given the field includes dos Santos and Kyron McMaster, the 2023 World silver medalist from the British Virgin Islands.
Full Oslo entry lists are here. Five events to watch:
Women’s 400m — 2:04 p.m. ET
The three medalists from last August’s worlds are entered: Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, Natalia Kaczmarek of Poland and Sada Williams of Barbados. The world champ Paulino is undefeated this year with two Diamond League victories, plus a win at the Los Angeles Grand Prix on May 18.
Men’s Discus — 2:36 p.m. ET
The field includes the top seven men from the 2023 Worlds and the top six from the Tokyo Olympics. While Swede Daniel Stahl is the reigning Olympic and world champion, Lithuanian and recent Cal Bear Mykolas Alekna broke the 37-year-old world record on April 14. Alekna also won the most recent Diamond League men’s discus event on May 19, topping a field that included Stahl and 2022 World champion Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia.
Women’s 200m — 2:38 p.m. ET
Jamaican Shericka Jackson won her season-opening 200m on May 19 in 22.82 seconds, but she is capable of much more. She won last August’s world title in 21.41, the second-fastest time in history behind Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 21.34 from 1988. The other 2023 World medalists aren’t entered here, so the target may be the time: 22.03 is so far the world’s fastest performance this year.
Men’s 400m Hurdles — 3:28 p.m. ET
Warholm dominated this event in the Tokyo Olympic cycle, but he has split victories with dos Santos and Benjamin in their last three head-to-head-to-heads. Dos Santos won the 2022 World title (Warholm was not fully fit after a hamstring tear six weeks earlier). Warholm came back to win 2023 Worlds. Then Benjamin prevailed at last September’s Diamond League Final. Warholm has already showed strong form this season in the rarely run 300m hurdles. He was two hundredths off his world record in that event last Wednesday.
Men’s 1500m — 3:50 p.m. ET
Olympic gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway was beaten by his new rival, world champion Josh Kerr of Great Britain, in the Prefontaine Classic mile last Saturday. That was Ingebrigtsen’s first race since last September after he missed the winter indoor season due to an Achilles injury. In Oslo, he faces his old rival, Olympic silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya, who last beat Ingebrigtsen in September 2021. Another notable entry: world bronze medalist Narve Nordas of Norway, who is coached by Ingebrigtsen’s father.
