Emma Coburn in the steeplechase at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene (© Getty Images)
Organisers of the Bislett Games have announced that world champion Emma Coburn of the USA will face home star Karoline Grovdal in the steeplechase at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo on 7 June.
Coburn was a surprise winner of the world title in London last year, setting a championship record of 9:02.58 and taking five seconds off her own North American record in the process.
Grovdal also produced a surprising end-of-season steeplechase performance in August last year, albeit on a smaller stage. Competing at the Norwegian Championships in what was her first steeplechase race in six years, Grovdal smashed her PB by 20 seconds with a solo 9:13.35 clocking, moving her to seventh on the European all-time list.
Grovdal, who won two European junior steeplechase titles before giving up the discipline in 2011, will return to her former specialist event this year. And in Oslo, not only will she have great competition in the form of Coburn, but she will also have a stadium full of supportive fans.
Organisers for the IAAF
2018 IAAF Diamond League calendar
4 May – Doha, QAT
12 May – Shanghai, CHN
26 May – Eugene, USA
31 May – Rome, ITA
7 Jun – Oslo, NOR
10 Jun – Stockholm, SWE
30 Jun – Paris, FRA
5 Jul – Lausanne, SUI
13 Jul – Rabat, MAR
20 Jul – Monaco, MON
21-22 Jul – London, GBR
18 Aug – Birmingham, GBR
30 Aug – Zurich, SUI
31 Aug – Brussels, BEL
