Kenyan stars set to light up 'night of potential records' in Oslo

The 2025 Diamond League (DL) season will make its sixth stop in Oslo on Thursday, 12 June - a night that promises to deliver several records.

Six Kenyans will lead the charge in the event set to have its feature races kick off at 2104 EAT.

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The main headliners on a busy night for Kenya will be Olympic medalists Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Faith Cherotich, who will face stern opposition in their respective disciplines.

Wanyonyi is among nine Olympic champions from the Paris 2024 Games to take part in the Bislett Games, and will be running in his second DL race this season, having finished third in Rabat late last month.

His redemption will surely be on the line on Thursday night, as there will be a fierce battle between him and Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati, his well-acclaimed adversary from last year.

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The two, who made the Olympic podium last year, will be making their first head-to-head meeting since the DL final last year in Brussels. Then, 20-year-old Wanyonyi outshone the Paris Olympics bronze medalist to claim his second successive DL title.

Added to the simmering mix in Oslo will be another fast runner, French star Gabriel Tual, who finished sixth in the Paris Olympics final..

And as if that is not enough, a stadium record could be on the cards in the race.

The time to beat? David Rudisha’s 1:42.04 set in 2010.

Meanwhile, the women’s 3,000m steeplechase offers another exciting battle between Olympic bronze medalist Cherotich and Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi.

After a couple of near misses from the Kenyan youngster, the gauntlet for this season was laid in Doha last month, when Cherotich outstaged Olympic champion Yavi to take top honors and a world lead.

Courtesy/Gallo Images

The win marked two times in a row Cherotich had finished ahead of Yavi, and that rivalry will take the spotlight once again, sticking Commonwealth Games gold medalist Jackline Chepkoech into the rearview mirrors.

In the mile, former World Champion Timothy Cheruiyot will come up against a stacked field as he seeks to build on his fairly impressive run in the 1500m race in Rome last weekend.

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The 29-year-old will face in-form Robert Farken and Samuel Pihlstrom, Oliver Hoare, Niels Laros, and world bronze medalist Narve Gilje Nordas to take top honors in the race.

Elsewhere in the men’s 5000m, Kenya’s duo of Nicholas Kipkorir and Jacob Krop will throw themselves into what could be one of the quickest races ever seen in the distance.

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The race has already been billed as a world record attempt, and will be headlined by the Ethiopian duo of Hagos Gebrhiwet and Yomif Kejelcha, seeking to go past Joshua Cheptegei’s global mark of 12:35.36 from 2020.

The former, last year, fell just 1.37 shy of the leading mark, while Kejelcha ran 12.38.95 at the same race.

The field will be further strengthened by the presence of other Ethiopians Kuma Girma and Biniam Mehary, Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo, and Switzerland’s Dominic Lobalu.