Bislett Dream Mile: The Tradition Continues

This year’s mile will again provide huge interest and excitement as a field of the highest possible quality test themselves over four laps of the renowned Bislett track. Reigning World Champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya is chasing a record three straight victories in the Dream Mile and will be looking to challenge his personal best of 3:48.50. Kiprop, the Olympic Champion from 2008, was unfortunately injured in London last season and subsequently struggled in the Olympic final. He is now fully recovered and judging by his early season form, a 1:44.8 at 800m in Nairobi and a classical win in a very fast time (3:31.13) at Doha’s Diamond League, and then an extraordinary come from behind win in Shanghai shows that the tall man will be ready for the task in Bislett.

Local interest will be at fever pitch with high expectations for Norway’s young Henrik Ingebrigtsen. Not only did Ingebrigtsen win the European 1500m title last year, he was a very close and perhaps unlucky 5th in the London Olympic Games. The very vocal Bislett crowd will roar their support for the local hero as he looks to establish a new Norwegian record possibly close to the 3:50 barrier.

Besides the World and European Champions, the “Dream Mile” field will also include the current World Indoor Champion Abdalaati Iguider of Morocco. Iguider secured a bronze medal in the hectic London Olympic 1500m final and will have his eyes firmly set upon a sub 3:50 clocking for the distance. 

Kenya will be again well represented in the race with Commonwealth 1500m Champion Silas Kiplagat and Nixon Chepseba. Both athletes ran brilliant 1500m times last season, Kiplagat’s 3:29.63 winning in Doha and Chepseba’s 3:29.77 in Monaco. They were the second and third fastest times in the world in 2012. Silas Kiplagat looked ready for a very fast time in the hectic Doha Diamond League race on 10 May but unfortunately he was tripped and fell heavily with just over a lap to go.

The quality and depth of this particular field evoke memories of a great Bislett race more than half a century ago when the Dane Gunnar Nielsen and the Hungarian Lazlo Tabori dead heated in a World Record at 1500m.

They too were encouraged every step of the way by the knowledgeable Bislett crowd in 1955 and now in 2013 the competitors will receive that same special support for an individual event that is often copied but never really duplicated as the Dream Mile remains one of the most recognizable episodes in the IAAF Diamond League.