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Stockholm

Felix, Kszczot and deep women’s 1500m field set to sparkle in Stockholm

Photo: Deca Text & Bild

The Swedish capital of Stockholm greets the world’s finest athletes to the DN Galan meeting tomorrow evening for the eleventh stage of the IAAF Diamond League at the city’s 1912 Olympic stadium.

After a five-week break, the IAAF Diamond League arrives at the venue which holds the world record for the arena with the most world records at 83, as no less than 18 newly crowned continental champions are set to compete.

The crème de la crème of women’s 200m sprinting, women’s 1500m running and of the men’s 800m gathered in front of the world’s media earlier today to speak of their hopes for Thursday.

Three-time world champion and Olympic champion, Allyson Felix continues her return from injury and the 28-year-old American has a fine 22.34 season’s best. The winner in Oslo explained:

“It’s a lot of fun to compete here so I’m happy to be back – I have fond memories of competing here, the crowd is always amazing. There’s a great energy here so I’m excited to return.

“This year was difficult coming off an injury but I’m not pushing more than necessary in this non-championships year in order to come back in top form next summer.

“The training break went well – I got more under my belt having played catch-up all season and I hope to have made solid progress.

“The next three years are intense but my motivation and passion is still there so I’m looking forward to explore which events I’ll focus on, I’m still thoroughly enjoying myself.”

Her US team-mate, Tori Bowie, meanwhile has enjoyed a breakthrough summer with superb 10.80 100m and 22.18 clockings in addition to impressive wins in Eugene over the half-lap and Rome, New York and Monaco in the shorter sprint.

The 23-year-old revealed:

“It’s a blessing, it’s been a fun year and I’m enjoying every moment and I’m using this season to prepare for next year.

“I don’t have any plans or expectations right now, I just go out and execute – I’m still learning how to run correctly, that’s the main focus.”

Bowie – who explained that her improvement is related to switching coaches and moving to Florida – announced that she will aim to compete in the long jump, 100m and 200m in next summer’s IAAF World Championships.

17-year-old Irene Ekelund of Sweden claimed the IAAF World Junior Championships silver medal earlier this season and the world youth champion goes into the competition with a 23.26 season’s best.

“Zurich (the European Championships last week) went great, I was so very was happy with the 200m and we didn’t think we’d make the final of the 4x100m relay but we did.

“There were a lot of good girls to run against, a lot of hard competition and I just tried my best and followed their lead. I just want to run fast and have fun tomorrow night.”

The women’s 1500m is loaded with talent and four of the main protagonists met this morning to discuss the metric mile event.

Newly crowned European champion, Sifan Hassan arrives following a silver medal over 5,000m in Zurich and the 21-year-old Netherlands athlete boasts a 3:57.00 national record from her Paris victory last month in addition to a 14:59.23 personal best in May.

“I’m very happy for my 1500m and 5,000m, I’m getting better in every meeting. Meraf Bahta and I train together as our coaches are friends, I’ happy because we push each other and I’m happy for her 5,000m success in Zurich. I think it will be a very good race tomorrow,” she said.

Sweden’s world indoor and outdoor champion, Abeba Aregawi claimed the 1500m runner-up position in the continental championship and the 24-year-old European indoor champion admitted:

“Here in my home country, I’m happy to be running. I’m not running well these days so I hope to do better here.

“I’m happy it’s going good for them (her rivals) – I had a good time and now they’re coming up, I was a role model.

The USA’s 2011 world champion and 2013 world silver medallist, Jennifer Simpson registered an impressive 3:57.22 lifetime best for second place in Paris and the 27-year-old revealed:

“I’m really happy to be here, Stockholm is a special place to compete – it’s exciting to run here.

“I had time to go home and reflect on my effort in Paris and just train for four weeks – it presented a good opportunity and also a unique challenge as I was just watching the Commonwealth Games and the European and African Championships.

“It’s a high-level field so it’s difficult to choose the winner, as we all bring different strengths to the table. It will be a fun and exciting race for the spectators, the stadium record could potentially go.

“There’s a lot of momentum in the women’s 1500m this season so it’s an exciting event with a great depth of talent. It makes the sport fun as there’s no strong favourite so it’s really hard for us.”

European 5,000m champion, Meraf Bahta of Sweden clocked a 4:03.16 personal best in June, following her 14:59.49 national record in May and the 25-year-old said:

“I was happy to win the gold medal and I look forward to competing with these girls tomorrow. I’ve been training with the guys in St Moritz before coming here to get strong."

“I want to run both the 1500m and 5,000m next year, it’s a good combination for me. I also want to run under or close to four minutes.”

The men’s 800m offers a mouth-watering clash between Poland’s Adam Kszczot and Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti.

Two-time European indoor champion, Kszczot has a swift 1:44.15 season’s best and the 24-year-old world indoor runner-up is aiming for a fast race:

“I was sure I was going for gold (in Zurich) as I prepared specifically and I ran the second lap of the Polish Championships in 51 seconds on my own.

“It was great for Poland to also take the silver medal behind me, I was really surprised when I saw my big lead on the screen, I couldn’t believe it.

“Now, I will try to get my personal best, we will see what happens tomorrow. The training plan was to start the season easy and now I try to find races to go for 1:43.50 and lower.”

Souleiman – the world indoor 1500m champion and world 800m bronze medallist – has focused more on the 1500m and mile events this summer but the 21-year-old has a blistering 1:43.69 season’s best:

“I’m lucky I won the African Championships and I’m in good shape – I’m happy with my season,” he explained.

“I like to change my training between the 800m, 1500m and 3,000m – it’s like food, it depends on what I feel like.”

Sweden’s 19-year-old world junior bronze medallist, Andreas Almgren reached the semi-final stage in Zurich and set a 1:45.65 national junior record in July.

“It is a very special atmosphere here, the crowd goes crazy – it gives me goose-bumps all around my body,” Almgren recalled.

“My goal was to get the bronze medal in Zurich but I did not think I would go sub-1:46 – that was a big surprise to me. I’m just going to try to keep with the pace tomorrow night, anything’s possible.”

Nicola Bamford for the organisers of the DN Galan meeting, Stockholm.

Where to watch Stockholm 2025

The 2025 Wanda Diamond League season continues in Stockholm on Sunday, June 15.

The action begins at 17:14 local time (GMT/UTC+2) with the women’s high jump and the main two-hour programme and global broadcast starts at 18:00 local time with the women’s 400m hurdles.

For information on where to watch in your territory, select the country you are in from the dropdown menu.

The list is subject to change. Please consult local TV schedules for definitive information.