The Athletics season across the world is in full swing as the highly anticipated World Athletics Championships set for Tokyo, Japan, as September nears.

As such, the Bislett Games, a Wanda Diamond League meeting, in Oslo on Thursday, will provide yet another opportunity for the World's best to battle as they prepare for Tokyo.

The programme, which includes an additional afternoon of action on Wednesday (11), features nine Olympic champions from the Paris 2024 Games.

Rai Benjamin, Alfred Dis Santos and Mondo Duplantis joined in Norway’s capital by Ethan Katzberg, Haruka Kitaguchi, Thea LaFond, Markus Rooth, Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Winfred Yavi.

Fast times are also expected in the 5000m, a race that has been billed as a world record attempt.

Last year, Hagos Gebrhiwet came close to achieving the 72nd world record to be set at the Bislett Stadium as he clocked 12:36.73, just 1.37 seconds shy of Joshua Cheptegei’s global mark of 12:35.36 from 2020.

Now he returns to try again, joined by his compatriot Yomif Kejelcha who ran 12.38.95 last year, making it the first time that two men had ever broken 12:40 in the same race.

Further strengthening the field are Kenya’s Jacob Krop and Nicholas Kipkorir, Ethiopia’s Kuma Girma and Biniam Mehary, Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo and Switzerland’s Dominic Lobalu.

A record could also fall in the 800m, as three of the six fastest runners in history take to the start line.

Kenya’s Olympic champion Wanyonyi, Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati and Gabriel Tual of France have all dipped under 1:42 and could target David Rudisha’s stadium record of 1:42.04 set in 2010.

The mile features Kenya’s 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot, who ran 3:29.75 but was narrowly beaten in the 1500m in Rome, plus the in-form Robert Farken and Samuel Pihlstrom, Oliver Hoare, Niels Laros and world bronze medallist Narve Gilje Nordas.

Kenya’s Olympic bronze medallist Faith Cherotich and Bahrain’s Olympic champion Yavi have posted the two fastest 3000m steeplechase times in the world so far this year and they both line up in Oslo, joined by 2022 world champion Norah Jeruto.

USA’s multiple Olympic and world gold medallist Dalilah Muhammad leads the entries for the 400m hurdles, which will also feature her compatriot Anna Hall, fresh from a 7032-point heptathlon in Götzis.

The meet will kick off live from 8 pm Kenyan time.