The venerable Bislett Stadium in Oslo was expecting a sell-out crowd Thursday evening for the annual Bislett Games, a track and field event that’s part of the international Diamond League competition.
It’s the first time in Bislett Games’ 54-year history that all 14,200 seats were sold. Steinar Hoen, the former athlete who now leads the event at Bislett, credits Norway’s own track stars Karsten Warholm and the Ingebrigtsen brothers for the public interest.
“This is first and foremost thanks to the ‘super-generation’ of Norwegian athletes, but also because of the fantastic start fields in all the Diamond League events,” Hoen said. “For the athletes, there’s nothing better than packed grandstands and the atmosphere we create.”
Fans won’t be seeing Warholm competing directly against Abderrahman Samba, however, who had to drop out of the 400-meter hurdles race because of a hip infection. Samba beat Warholm at Bislett last year and was best at the Diamond League competition in Shanghai in May.
newsinenglish.no staff
