Kenya’s Olympic bronze medallist Faith Cherotich and Bahrain’s Olympic champion Winfred Yavi will renew their rivalry in the women’s 3000 meters steeplechase at the Oslo Diamond League 2025 meeting on Thursday night.
The two athletes have posted the two fastest 3000m steeplechase times in the world so far this year and they both line up in Oslo for a mouthwatering contest after their first meeting in Doha.
In that race, Cherotich timed her race to perfection as she produced a brilliant kick in the last 50 meters of the showdown to beat Yavi to first place.
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Cherotich crossed the finishing line in a world lead time of 9:05.08 while Yavi, who was born in Kenya, clocked 9:05.26 to finish ahead of Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew (9.09.27).
The same was witnessed in 2024 where the 20-year-old Cherotich ran a tactical race to bag the prestigious Diamond League trophy in Belgium after finishing first in 9:02.36.
She was closely followed by the 2024 Paris Olympic Games gold medalist Winfred Mutile Yavi and Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai who clocked 9:02.87 and 9:07.60 respectively.
Faith Cherotich and Winfred Yavi pose with Olympic medals
Elsewhere, the mile features Kenya’s 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot, who ran 3:29.75 but was narrowly beaten in the 1500m in Rome, plus the in-form Robert Farken and Samuel Pihlstrom, Oliver Hoare, Niels Laros and world bronze medallist Narve Gilje Nordas.
Two other Kenyans in Jacob Krop and Nicholas Kipkorir will also be part of a strong men’s 5000 metre lineup consisting of Hagos Gebrhiwet who came close to achieving the 72nd world record to be set at the Bislett Stadium as he clocked 12:36.73, just 1.37 seconds shy of Joshua Cheptegei’s global mark of 12:35.36 from 2020.
Gebriwet returns to try again, joined by his compatriot Yomif Kejelcha who ran 12.38.95 last year – making it the first time that two men had ever broken 12:40 in the same race.
Other in the list include Ethiopia’s Kuma Girma and Biniam Mehary, Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo and Switzerland’s Dominic Lobalu.
Women’s 100m
Julien Alfred made history at the Olympics last summer when she won a first ever medal for her tiny island homeland of Saint Lucia.
Her personal best of 10.72sec is matched in the Oslo field by 36-year-old Ivorian veteran Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith.
But Alfred will likely come under more pressure from the British pair of Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita.
“I want to be at my very best,” Alfred said. “I’m looking forward to some great competition here, it’s my first 100m of the season.”
Winning Olympic gold had changed her life “for the better”, she insisted. “I’ve become an ambassador for my country, I’m more recognised now… and there’s a target on my back now. There are more opportunities in life.”
Men’s pole vault
Duplantis remains head and shoulders above the rest, having bettered his own world record to 6.27m in February on the back of a 2024 season when he not only won Olympic gold but also broke the world record three times.
The US-born Swede has also registered the 11 highest jumps in the history of the sport, improving the world record one centimetre at a time from 6.17 to 6.27.
He is the undisputed king of the event and was also named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for 2024. Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt is the only track and field athlete to have previously won the award.
The world’s top eight will compete in Oslo, three of them having cleared the 6m mark, notably Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis, who won Olympic silver in Paris and has a personal best of 6.01m and American Sam Kendricks (6.06).
“This time we do happen to have some good weather,” said Duplantis. “Now it seems like it’s no excuses and all upon us to jump well and put on a good show.”
The vaulters, Karalis added, were “going to have a great show!”