Think Javelin – think Bislett

The past of Javelin throwing in Norway is truly colossal. Norwegian throwers have won seven Olympic medals, dating way back to the days of Halse and Sunde. More recently the names of Danielsen, Hattestad and Thorkildsen have all captured gold at highest level. At the Bislett stadium there have been five World Records established. Oslo’s own Trine Hattestad did it in the stadium in 2000, twice by long time Norwegian favourite Terje Pedersen and twice the greatest thrower of all time, Jan Železný of the Czech Republic. (Norwegian athletes have broken World Records on five occasions: Pedersen in Oslo, Danielsen in Melbourne and Hattestad in Rome and Oslo.

The field for this year certainly boasts an incredible line-up, featuring no fewer than three World Champions; Finland’s Tero Pitkämäki, Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen and Vítezslav Veselý of the Czech Republic and two Olympic Champions: Andreas Thorkildsen and Trinidad’s Keshorn Walcott.

The strength of the field is realized when pondering the result of the Javelin at last year’s World Championships in Moscow you find that many of the finalists from that event will contest the Javelin at ExxonMobil Bislett Games; Vítezslav Veselý (gold), Tero Pitkämäki (silver), Dmitri Tarabin (bronze), Julius Yego (fourth), Antti Ruuskanen (fifth) and Thorkildsen (sixth).

The sensational winner of the first Diamond League javelin throw competition of the year is also coming to Bislett. Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed of Egypt stunned everybody by setting a new world lead of 89.21m and winning the competition in Shanghai on 18 May, beating all three medalists from the World Championships in Moscow last year. 89.21m is also a new personal best for the 25-year-old, a massive improvement on his previous best of 83.93m set less than a fortnight ago.

Norway’s two times Olympic Champion Andreas Thorkildsen has had a decent preparation for the 2014 season and for the first time in many years is injury free. The parochial Bislett crowd will be willing him to find his very best form in such a strong field.

The new World Champion Vítezslav Veselý is coached by none other than the great Jan Železný, who is no stranger to this venue having broken two world records at Bislett during his stellar career. Veselý has now set his sights on a personal best over the 90m mark and significantly closer to his coach’s World Record of 98.48m.

One of the more interesting throwers in the assembled field is Julius Yego of Kenya, a country not really renowned for technical events. Yego came within a few centimetres of claiming a surprise bronze medal in Moscow. He eventually finished in 4th place with a personal best of 85.40m. In his relatively short career, he has made the finals of both the Olympics in 2012 and the World Championships last year. This is staggering when you consider that he first threw over 80m in 2012. With his powerful throwing action and unique background, Yego is sure to be an instant favourite of the keen Bislett crowd, who will watch his every effort in what promises to be another memorable competition.