As a result of this, and the fact that Norway now has many fantastic athletes in events not part of the Diamond League program, Bislettalliansen has decided to extend the event with an additional day.
The legendary strawberry festival, always held the day before the event, will be moved to the inner field at Bislett Stadium, becoming "The People’s Strawberry Festival." This will be followed by live sports with international participants.
This is the schedule for "Bislett Games Day 1 - The Strawberry Festival" on Wednesday, June 11:
In traditional fashion, the strawberry festival will begin with presentations and interviews with some of the biggest stars. But this time, it will take place from the inner field at Bislett Stadium. Among those participating will be Mondo Duplantis, Karsten Warholm, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and Olympic 100-meter champion for women, Julien Alfred.
"This will be a great opportunity for everyone who hasn’t been able to get a ticket for the Oslo Bislett Games the next day to see and hear the biggest stars. To create the true strawberry festival atmosphere, we’ll treat everyone who comes to a free cup of strawberries," says Hoen.
He adds that the gates will open at 18:30, and the event itself will run from 19:00 to 21:00, with ticket sales for this event starting today (March 17).
"We hope as many people as possible will come the day before the big day, as we have an exciting sports menu that we will continue to develop in the coming weeks," he says.
What is confirmed so far includes the following:
- Olympic decathlon champion Markus Rooth and European indoor heptathlon champion Sander Aae Skotheim will compete as a Norwegian team against Switzerland, with Simon Ehammer, and Estonia, with Johannes Erm, in a national team competition in the triathlon.
The long jump will be held during the strawberry festival on Wednesday, June 11, while the 110 meter hurdles and javelin will be part of the Oslo Bislett Games on Thursday, June 12. - European half-marathon champion from Rome last summer, Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal, will attempt to break Ingrid Kristiansen’s legendary Norwegian record of 30:13.74 in the 10,000 meters, which was a world record when it was set in 1986. Another athlete ready to compete here is the Dutch silver medalist in the 10,000 meters from the European Championships in Rome last summer, Diane van Es. She also holds the European record for the 5,000 meters road race.
- Norwegian hammer throwers Eivind Henriksen and Thomas Mardal will also have the opportunity to showcase their skills on this day against parts of the world elite.
- There will also be a 100 meters featuring the world’s fastest para-athletes in any category. Here, Salum Kashafali will face off against the fastest para-athletes in several other classes than the ones he normally competes against.
"The rest of the program will be finalized in the coming weeks and launched gradually as it becomes clear," concludes Hoen.
Program:
18:30-19:00: Pre-program
19:00-19:30: Interviews from the inner field
19:30-21:00: Main event
Ticket sales open today (Monday, March 17).
