As usual, there is real talent emanating from USA in the form of New Jersey born Sydney McLaughlin, who at the tender age of 19 is a global top ten performer in three individual events; 200 meters, 400 meters and 400 meters hurdles.
In Oslo she will do her first ever Diamond League-race at 400 meters hurdles, in her first professional season after leaving the University of Kentucky and dominating the US collegiate Championships last year.
However, it will not be an easy introduction to European competition as the former winner of the World Youth Games lines against Olympic Champion Delilah Mohammad and European Champion Lea Sprunger.
Not to be outdone in terms of ability and performance at a young age, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen will be also making his international debut as a fulltime professional athlete at Oslo Bislett Games. Right now, the 18-year-old dual European Champion is finishing his High School examinations, so he can prepare to race the best in the world in the Dream Mile at Oslo’s famed Bislett Stadium. Young Jakob has shown ability and competitive instinct beyond his years in already winning three senior European titles.
In the Dream Mile the boy from Sandnes, in Norway’s west, will face not only the usual high-quality field, but also his older brother Fillip, himself a World Championships bronze medalist.
Another teenage sensation, Sweden’s 19-year-old Mondo Duplantis, is heading a star-studded field in the men’s Pole Vault. Mondo is making his 2019 Diamond League debut in Oslo. The World Youth Champion, current World Junior Champion and current European Champion has a personal best of 6.05, and so far this season he is the only jumper who has achieved 6.00 meters.
Oslo Bislett Games meeting director Steinar Hoen was adamant about featuring these and other young athletes.
- We must continually invest in youth. They represent the building blocks, that are the future of our sport, he says.
