There will be no Nigerian representation at the sixth leg of the 2025 Diamond League when the series heads to Oslo, Norway, on Thursday. The prestigious meet, set to take place at the historic Bislett Stadium, will feature some of the biggest names in global athletics as preparations intensify ahead of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September.
Despite a stacked lineup featuring no fewer than nine Olympic gold medallists from Paris 2024, Nigeria’s top athletes will be absent. Notably, world-class hurdler Tobi Amusan will not participate, as the women’s 100m hurdles is not included in the Oslo programme. Also missing is shot put star Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, with the men’s shot put event also omitted from this leg of the competition.
Amusan recently made headlines at the Rabat leg of the Diamond League, where she claimed victory in the women’s 100m hurdles, setting a meet record and a season’s best of 12.45 seconds. Enekwechi, who finished seventh in Rabat with a throw of 21.38m, also competed in Rome last week, where he placed eighth.
While Nigeria sits out, Oslo is set for a thrilling evening of athletics action. In one of the headline events, the men’s 400m hurdles will feature an epic showdown between Olympic medallists Rai Benjamin (USA), Karsten Warholm (Norway), and Alison Dos Santos (Brazil), who will compete in a special 300m hurdles race.
The men’s pole vault will see world record holder and Olympic champion Armand “Mondo” Duplantis of Sweden return to action, leading a high-profile field.
On the track, Olympic women’s 100m champion Julien Alfred of St Lucia will headline the sprints, making her debut appearance in Oslo and also slated to compete in Stockholm three days later. She will face tough competition from Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith, and Italy’s Zaynab Dosso.
The women’s triple jump promises fireworks, with all six medallists from the Paris Olympics and Nanjing World Indoor Championships, Thea LaFond, Shanieka Ricketts, Jasmine Moore, Leyanis Perez Hernandez, Liadagmis Povea, and Ana Peleteiro-Compaore, set to clash.
In the women’s steeplechase, Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi will go up against Kenya’s Faith Cherotich in what is expected to be a fiercely contested rematch. Meanwhile, Polish star Natalia Bukowiecka leads the field in the women’s 400m, lining up against Rhasidat Adeleke, Sada Williams, Lieke Klaver, and Henriette Jæger. The men’s 200m will see Canada’s Andre De Grasse take on Aaron Brown, Kyree King, Joseph Fahnbulleh, and Reynier Mena.
In total, 14 events will be contested at the Oslo Diamond League, but Nigeria’s absence will be felt as the global spotlight shines on one of the year’s most anticipated meets.
