Did you know that Norway is a top Nation on the Diamond League record table?
A closer look at the unsung superpower of track and field
US. Kenya. Ethiopia. Jamaica.
These are the countries that are top of mind for most track fans when you ask them about the sport’s superpowers. But there’s a significant name missing.
Norway is one of the most successful Nations in Diamond League, thanks to a long history in the sport and the unparalleled success of two of the brightest stars of the sport. Rekortan and Polytan tracks have clocked the most Norwegian records of any track brand across the Diamond League’s history.
Rekortan and Polytan have provided the tracks on which the Lion’s share of these successes have been achieved across the Diamond League.
In the count of Norwegian records set at the Diamond League events throughout its history (2010-2024) is:
#1 in the combined list of World, Diamond, Area and National Records
#1 in terms of National Records
#2 in terms of World records and World Best Performances* (behind Kenya)
#3 in terms of Diamond League Records (behind the USA and Kenya)
#4 in terms of Area Records (behind Australia, USA and Kenya)
#4 in the combined list including World, Diamond League, Area, National and Meeting records (behind USA, Kenya and Ethiopia)
#6 in terms of Meeting Records (behind USA, Kenya, Ethiopia, Jamaica and Netherlands)
Host to two of the current biggest superstars of track and field and one of the oldest venues on the Diamond League circuit, its star in the track and field hall of fame should shine as brightly as the Northern Lights.
We take a closer look at the athletes, performances and venue that have catapulted the Scandinavian nation to track and field greatness.
Karsten Warholm and the reinvention of the 400m hurdles
Norway has two uncontested generational talents. Karsten Warholm is one of them. He is the World Record holder for the 400m hurdles which he took in spectacular fashion in 2021. The previous record had eluded athletes for 29 years. In 2021, Warholm broke the record twice, taking the old record down in July at the Oslo Diamond league, and then shaving three-quarters of a second off his own record a month later when he clinched Olympic Gold in Tokyo in 45.94.
Warholm makes unusual history in the 300m hurdles
The Norwegian champion has set the Diamond League Record six times, the European Area Record five times, Meeting Records 12 times, National Records another ten and has one World Record and one World Best Performance to his name.
Overall, he is the #4 athlete in this combined list of records across the series, and #3 if we consider only Diamond League and World Records.
This includes an unusual World Best Performance on home soil. In the lead up to the Tokyo2020 Olympics, Warholm set the best performance ever for the 300m hurdles at the Bislett Games in Oslo. Due to the rarity of some events, World Athletics calls it “World’s Best” rather than “World Record”, but the conclusion is the same. It was the fastest ever. Warholm’s time of 33.78 beat GB’s Chris Rawlingson’s 2002 record by 0.7 seconds.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen and the “Everest” of track and field records
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is Norway’s other athletics Goliath who also knows a thing or two about smashing long-standing records. The 3000m World Record set in 1996 by Kenya’s Daniel Komen was considered one of the most ‘unbeatable’ records in the Sport. Even the greats Hicham El Guerrouj (1,500m and Mile WR holder since 1999) and Haile Gebrselassie (multiple WR holder in various track and field distances from 1,500m to the Marathon) could not touch it at their respective peaks. Komen was also the only athlete in history to have run two miles in under eight minutes. And then came Jakob Ingebrigtsen to redefine the impossible.
First, in 2023 at the Paris Diamond League, he improved Komen’s mark over the 2 miles (which had stood since 1997). And then came ‘the Everest’. On 25 August 2024, in the Silesian Stadium in Poland, Ingebrigtsen clocked a staggering 7:17.55 for the 3,000m, taking more than 3 seconds off Komen’s legendary mark.
The impact of Norway’s superstars
With 39 records in the Diamond League (two World Records, one World Best Performance, five Diamond League Records, nine Area Records, twelve National Records and ten Meeting Records), Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the youngest of three world-class track and field brothers, holds more than any other Norwegian athlete, and together, he and Warholm hold over 70% of Norway’s Diamond League record tally.
“The impact of Norway’s superstars, Karsten Warholm and Jakob Ingebrigtsen, at their peak is like having two Usain Bolts at the same time. They have put Norway on the athletics map like never before. But another factor in Norway’s success has been around for much longer.”
‘The world record track’, Bislett Stadium, Oslo
The Bislett Stadium in Oslo has been staging athletics meets since 1924. Its record tally started early with the 500m World Record falling at its inaugural meeting, at that time known as the “American Meetings”.
In 1965 the first edition of the Bislett Games was organized, with the notable 10,000m World Record from Ron Clarke being set when he became the first athlete to break the 28 min barrier for the distance.
Since then, the event has been an avid collector of World Records. It was the 1979 stage where Seb Coe became the first athlete to run the 800m in under 1:43. It’s the venue where Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen, one of the best long-distance runners in history, set two world records in the 5,000m (14:58.9) in 1984 and the 10,000 m (30:59.42) in 1985. Throughout history, the Bislett Stadium has witnessed 70 World Records, earning its name as ‘the world record track’.
The most Norwegian Diamond League Records were run on Rekortan
Of the 73 accumulated records set by Norwegian athletes in the sum of World Records, Diamond League Records, Area Records and National Records set at the Diamond League events, the most (21) were run on Sports Group’s Rekortan and Polytan tracks.
Karsten Warholm ran most of his World, Diamond League, Area and National Records (10 out of 23) across the Diamond League series on Rekortan tracks. His signature event, the 400m hurdles, remains the track event with the most World and Diamond League records since the Diamond League began in 2010.
Rekortan is part of the world’s biggest installation network. Rekortan is available in North America and globally through our network of expert installation partners, and via Polytan in EMEA and Asia Pacific.