There was double delight for Britain in Oslo at the Diamond League meeting. Olympic champion Greg Rutherford backed up his Birmingham success with another commanding long jump victory. On the track, Scotland's up and coming middle distance star, Laura Muir enjoyed a confidence-boosting win over 1500 metres, leaving the Kenyans in her wake. British sprinters, Richard Kilty and Matthew Hudson-Smith were also on the podium in their events.
Second Diamond League success
Milton Keynes' jumper, Rutherford had been in sparkling form last weekend at Birmingham and claimed his second Diamond League triumph in five days in the Norwegian capital.
Although slightly down on his outstanding leap in the Midlands, he was still delighted to maintain winning form with a best distance of 8.25m ahead of American Michael Hartfield's 8.04 m.
Tactically sound Muir
Less expected was 22-year-old Muir's victory. She raced astutely to defeat a classy field in a time of 4:00.39 which was only a fraction of a second outside her personal best. Muir took the lead 700m from the finish, a tactic that paid off handsomely as she held off Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon from Kenya in the closing stages. Fellow Briton Laura Weightman was back in 6th place.
Muir will be keen to put last season's major disappointments behind her, after failing to impress in both the Commonwealth Games and European Championships.
She has already displayed improved form this year, after finishing just outside the medals at the European Indoors in Prague.
Solid 200m from Kilty
Although Kilty could not quite match Rutherford and Muir's heroics, the 'Teesside Tornado' ran solidly over 200 metres to finish in 3rd place. French sprint star Christophe Lemaitre claimed top spot with 20.21 seconds, comfortably ahead of Kilty's 20.54 seconds.
South Africa's Anaso Jobodwana split the two athletes in second place.
Second and fourth in 400m
Last year's European Championships one-two over 400 metres could not quite repeat the feat in Oslo. Hudson-Smith this time defeated Martyn Rooney but could only manage second place in the race, with a season's best time of 45.09 seconds.
Rooney ran 45.46 seconds for fourth behind the Bahamian winner Steven Gardiner's 44.64 seconds.
Kiprop's home from home
Asbel Kiprop produced yet another victory in the Dream Mile. The Kenyan brought the 50th anniversary of the Bislett Games to a fitting conclusion, securing his fourth success at the event. The two-time world champion over 1500m sprinted to a 3:51.45 clocking, with fellow countryman Silas Kiplagat finishing second.
Ayanleh Souleiman was extremely disappointed with his run. After following a fast early pace which earned him a 20 metre gap at one stage on the field, the man from Djibouti faded badly in the final straight to allow three men past. Sneaking into third place was Belgium's Pieter-Jan Hannes with a national record time of 3:51.84.
Record attempt
Genzebe Dibaba's attempt on her older sister, Tirunesh's 5000m world record was never really on the cards. Racing on her own for much of the race in blustery conditions, the extremely talented 24-year-old eventually won the race in a creditable time of 14:21.29.
High jump shock
The men's high jump produced a surprise winner in the form of China's Guowei Zhang. Awkward winds upset the jumps of many of the more fancied competitors, as Zhang cleared 2.36m to finish ahead of such stellar names as Mutaz Essa Barshim (3rd equal), Bogdan Bondarenko (5th) and Ivan Ukhov (8th).
