Australians to go the Distance | Oslo Diamond League Preview
Published Wed 14 Jun 2023
Australia’s middle-distance resurgence will be placed under the spotlight at the Bislett Games in Oslo, as Jessica Hull and Linden Hall chase the Dream Mile and Olli Hoare targets big name scalps, while Jack Rayner returns to a happy hunting ground.
Australian viewers can tune in live and free from 4:00am AEST, Friday June 16 via the Diamond League YouTube Channel. Full start lists and more information can be found HERE. Torrie Lewis (Andrew Iselin) will compete in the pre-program, National Women's 200m.
Women’s Dream Mile (4:52am AEST):
The mile is one of four distances that Jessica Hull (Self-coached) holds the national record at, and the in-form Australian has the opportunity to produce something special in the Dream Mile alongside Linden Hall (Ned Brophy-Williams).
Clocking the fastest 1500m time by any Australian woman in history last start, Hull’s scorching 3:57.29 will leave her feeling confident in a race of this calibre – absent of world record holder Faith Kipyegon.
A regular feature at the business end of Diamond League proceedings, it will take an effort near or better than Hull’s 4:19.89 national record to dismantle the field featuring Brike Haylom (Ethiopia) and Ciara Mageean (Ireland). Hall has been racing into form with three runs over 1500m in the space of the week, overcoming a chest infection with improvement on the horizon in Oslo.
The race will be paced by fellow Australian Ellie Sanford.
Men’s 5000m (5:05am AEST):
The 2022 Bislett Games witnessed Jack Rayner (Nic Bideau) clock the fastest 5000m of his career with a 13:06.00 run for sixth place, and he will be out to replicate that performance in a bid to qualify for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
With the qualifying mark standing at 13:07.00, Rayner finds a strong race featuring eight men who have blasted through the once-elusive 13-minute barrier, allowing the Australian to focus on being competitive rather than chasing the clock.
The race is spearheaded by the World Cross Country champion crowned in Bathurst, Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda) who is set to lock horns with the likes of Yomif Kejelcha (Ethiopia) and Luis Grijalva (Guatemala).
The 12.5 lap battle is the first track race of Rayner’s 2023 campaign, after posting a 1:01:24 half marathon and 29th place finish at the World Cross Country Championships in February before encountering injury.
The race will be paced by Australian Callum Davies.
Men’s 1500m (5:50am AEST):
In a field worthy of a major championship final, Olli Hoare (Dathan Ritzenhein) is set to immerse himself in the deep end of the modern day mile as the world’s biggest names descend upon Oslo.
Headed by reigning Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) who races fresh off shattering Daniel Komen’s two-mile world record with a mind-blowing run of 7:54.10, Hoare’s 1500m personal best of 3:30.12 ranks him seventh in the field of 15 on time; his hopes bolstered by sitting third on the current world rankings.
Finishing third at his first and only Diamond League to date this season in Rabat, Hoare spoke optimistically about his season moving forward before heading to a training camp in Saint Moritz ahead of his Oslo appearance:
“If third place at a Diamond League is a bit of a disappointment, it’s a good place to be. I’m looking forward to progressing to this race and building up to Oslo Diamond League in a couple of weeks. I just want to be competitive at the top end of the field. The one goal for this year is go through to Worlds and qualify for the final and come out with a medal or win.”
With world records tumbling frequently throughout the 2023 Diamond League, Ingebrigtsen is touted as an outside chance of eclipsing Hicham El Geurrouj’s 3:26.00 mark, but will first have to shake off the field featuring eight of the top-10 ranked 1500m men in the world.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 13/6/2023
