Pryce leads Jamaicans into Oslo

Six Jamaicans, led by women's 400-metre ace Nickisha Pryce, will be in action at today's Oslo Bislett Games in Norway, the sixth leg of the Wanda Diamond League series.

Pryce, the defending national champion in the event, will take to the track at 1:04 p.m. Jamaican time. She is coming off a third-place finish in her last outing in Rome, Italy, following up on her win in Shanghai, where she clocked a season’s best 49.75 seconds. 

Today, she will go up against Norway's Henriette Jaeger, who won in Rome in 49.60, and Lurdes Manuel of the Czech Republic, who was second in 49.77, with the aim of turning the tables on both athletes this time around.

Rushell Clayton will be the other Jamaican involved in action on the track today when she competes in the penultimate event of the day, the women's 400m hurdles, at 2:39 p.m. 

Clayton is coming off a third-place finish in Rome, where she clocked a season’s best 53.14 seconds. Here, she will line up against world and Diamond League leader Emma Zapletalova of Slovakia, who has a season’s best 52.58, while Gianna Woodruff of Panama, who has run 53.58 this season, will also be in the event.

Four Jamaicans will be involved in the field, with three in the jumps and one in the throws. Leading the jumping unit will be world leader in the men's triple jump, Jordan Scott, along with Jaydon Hibbert. 

Scott, the world leader with 17.66 metres, was second in Rome with 17.33m, while Hibbert was third with 17.02m. They will once again battle Cuba's Andy Hernandez Diaz, who was the winner in Rome with a season’s best 17.59m.

World Championships representative Ackelia Smith will make her season debut in the women's triple jump, where she will face a very strong line-up, including the Cuban pair of Leyanis Perez Hernandez, the Tokyo world champion, and Liadagmis Povea, the 2025 World Indoor silver medallist, along with Thea Lafond of Dominica, the Paris Olympic gold medallist.

Danniel Thomas-Dodd will close out the Jamaican competitors at the meet when she contests the women's shot put. She will be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing performance in Stockholm, where she finished sixth with 18.56m after registering only one legal throw.

Following her 200m win over world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the United States in Rome, St Lucia's Julien Alfred will go for another victory today when she contests the women's 100m as she looks to improve on her season’s best 10.93 seconds. Amy Hunt of Great Britain, who was second in Stockholm behind Jefferson-Wooden in a personal-best 10.97, will also be hoping for another big performance.