15th June 2017

13 British athletes targeting success at Oslo Diamond League

Fresh from victory in Rome last Thursday, CJ Ujah (coach: Jonas Dodoo) is the headline name among the 13 British athletes on the start list for the fifth leg of the Diamond League, which takes place in Oslo on Thursday 15 June.

After 100m victory in the Italian capital, Ujah will look to break the tape once more and improve on his 10.02 time; with the form he’s in, his 9.96 personal best could well be under threat. Joining him on the startlist are Adam Gemili (Rana Reider) and Reece Prescod (Dodoo), the former needing no introduction. The duo, like Ujah, already hold London 2017 World Championship qualifying standards of 10.08 and 10.09 respectively. Also in the field are the likes of Rio 2016 200m silver medallist Andre de Grasse and France’s European record holder Jimmy Vicaut.

Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz (Fuzz Caan) is one of four Brits in action in the field, and based on season’s bests is second on paper with a 2.31m effort at the opening Diamond League of the season in Doha. Mutaz Essa Barshim will start as overwhelming favourite having already cleared 2.37m this year.

Three British women are in action in the long jump, with Lorraine Ugen (Shawn Jackson) leading the way. After winning silver at the European Indoor Championships with a huge 6.97m jump, Ugen has also started the outdoor season well, a 6.78m leap good for third in Eugene. Joining her in the competition are reigning IAAF World Championship silver medallist Shara Proctor (Reider) and Jazmin Sawyers (Kelly Sotherton), who was the leading Brit in Rio.

Back on the track Matthew Hudson-Smith (Tony Hadley) will go in a pretty open 400m field, his 44.48 personal best making him third fastest on paper. Meanwhile in the 100mH Tiffany Porter (Jeff Porter) is, like Grabarz, second best on paper in 2017, her 12.75 run in Boston ten days ago just over a tenth down on German Pamela Dutkiewicz.

Lynsey Sharp (Terrance Mahon) goes in the women’s 800m and will be looking build on her season’s best of 2.01.13 set 10 days ago. Back with the sprints Bianca Williams (Lloyd Cowan) goes over 200m, and will be seeking to improve upon her 22.83 season’s best to be in contention in a strong field that includes Dafne Schippers.

Charlie Grice (Jon Bigg) and Jake Wightman (Geoff Wightman) are in action in the men’s 1500m, a large field boasting a trio of athletes with personal bests inside 3.30. Both Grice and Wightman already have the London 2017 World Championship qualifying standard.

Full start lists for Thursday night’s meeting can be found here:

Catch all the action live on Eurosport 2 between 19:00 and 21:00.