OSLO: Norwegian hurdling great Karsten Warholm destroyed his own world best time in the rarely run 300 metres hurdles at the Oslo Diamond League meeting on Thursday, chasing down American Rai Benjamin in a stunning finish.

Roared on by the home crowd, the 2020 Olympic champion came off the corner behind Benjamin but roared past the man who had beaten him for Olympic gold last year in Paris to finish in a blistering 32.67 seconds, breaking his previous mark of 33.05 set in April.

Warholm ripped off his shirt and spun it around his head in delight when his record time flashed on the Bislett Stadium screen.

`I never really went away of course, but it is good to be back for sure,` Warholm said. `I usually fade at the end ofthe 400,sothe 300 suits me to some degree but I will be back strong in the 400 on Sunday (in Stockholm).

Benjamin was second in 33.22,while Alison dos Santos of Brazil was third in 33.38.

World record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden cruised to an easy victory in the pole vault, while Nico Young became the fastest American over 5,000 metres outdoors.

Julien Alfred opened her season with a win in the 100m to set the pace as the woman to beat at this year`s world championships in Tokyo.

Duplantis, a twice Olympic and world champion, cleared 6.15m and then called it a night rather than chase a world record attempt in chilly 14 degree centigrade.

`On Sunday in Stockholm it would be an absolute dream to break the world record, in fact I could retire if I do,` he said laughing.

Young outsprinted an excellent 5,000 field to win in 12 minutes 45.27 seconds in a race full of national records and personal bests.

While Young`s time was a US outdoor record, fellow AmericanGrant Fisher clocked a world and national indoor record of 12:44.09 in February.

Ethiopia`s Biniam Mehary and Kuma Girma crossed second and third respectively, while Englishman George Mills was fourth in 12.46.59 to obliterate the British record of 12:53.11 held by distance great Mo Farah.

Alfred, the first athlete from Saint Lucia to win an Olympic gold medal when she triumphed last year in Paris, enjoyed victory in the 100m in a time of 10.89 seconds.

`I was a little rusty but I got the win under my belt which is the main thing,` Alfred said. `As for my season I am Olympic champion so I am the one to beat but I really want to add world champion to my name as well.

Paris Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya raced to victory in the men`s 800m, holding off a fast-closing field over the final 100m to finish in 1:42.78.

Kenya`s Faith Cherotich won the women`s 3,000m steeplechase,outsprinting Olympic champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain in a neckand-neck battle over the final 200m, clocking 9:02.60 to edge Yavi by 0.16 seconds.

Haruka Kitaguchi of Japan, women`s javelin gold medallist at the Paris Games, threw almost a metre more than the rest of the field to win in Oslo with a toss of 64.63m.

Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt also graced the event and added further glitter to a gripping evening of track and field.

Bolt, the 100 and 200m world record holder, had been introduced to the baying, sell-out 15,000-strong crowd in the Bislett Stadium by World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, who had himself set three world records at the Norwegian venue.

`It`s always been wonderful being at the Bislett Games. The energy and the love that I always get when I come here is just wonderful,` said Bolt on his first return to Oslo since his retirement in 2017.-Agencies