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June 15, 2007 - Bislett Games, Oslo, Norway

Another step forward in Oslo

As the first of only six Golden League athletic competitions all year, Bislett Games ranks high priority on athletes' to-do list of races to obtain top competition and high points for the World Athletics Tour and Golden League Million Jackpot.

Included in the World Athletics Tour are about 50 competitions between March and September where athletes can achieve points toward qualfication of the World Athletics Final, where a maximum of 12 athletes in an event will compete in September in Stuttgar (note this is separate from the World Championsips). And, the higher level the meet, the more points one can achieve, which is why Oslo, with it's top Golden League status, is so popular.

Thus, the competition for Hilary this past weekend provided an amazing racing opportunity that she was keen to capitalize and learn from.

Photo by Getty Images

"I was very excited to be racing in Oslo this weekend, the field was pretty stacked with some of the top 1500m women in the World," said Hilary. "So I just wanted to get in there and race for the experience and opportunity."

In the end, Hilary's training partner Maryam Jamal outkicked top ranked Russian Yuliya Chizhenko to win in a season best and world leading time of 4:01.44. Hilary finished in 12th place with a season best of 4:10.20.

Although Hilary was disappointed with her final time, she says she learned a lot from the racing experience. "I wasn't at all happy with the time, but I'm learning a lot from being in some high level races where the leaders are going out very fast and I am realizing I need to hold back at the beginning to have more at the end," said Hilary. "I still consider this a step in the right direction for the season and I'm keen to keep moving forward with upcoming races.

Up next Hilary will run a 1500m in Lucern, Switzerland.

To see full results of Oslo, click here>>

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