Flummoxed perhaps by our official accreditation, the man standing next to the grey car opened the door for us and, keen to get back to the meeting hotel, we decided that rather than wait for the bus we would get in.

But when two other bodies arrived to fill the seats there was some awkwardness, as one of them was the man who is currently the best high jumper of his generation, Mutaz Essa Barshim.

After some comic shuffling, it made sense for Qatar’s prize athletic possession to get into the front passenger seat, where he was able, if not to stretch his long legs, then at least not to have them jammed into the back of a seat.

As he had explained patiently a few minutes earlier when asked about his disappointing third place at the recent Asian Championships, the world indoor champion - who is as delicate as a thoroughbred and has suffered in past seasons with chronic back trouble - does not want to risk doing “anything stupid” as he looks ahead to this summer’s Beijing World Championships and the Rio Olympics beyond.

So taking risks at a rainy Asian Championships was a no-no.

As our car sped through the city centre streets, you could only wonder at the thoughts of the elongated figure in shades and baseball cap settled next to the driver.

We were going to the stadium the next day to do a job. This 23-year-old, who has already won his two opening Diamond League events with efforts of 2.38 and 2.41m, would be going there needing to perform – and to perform supremely well – for a stadium full of 15,000 people and an expectant worldwide audience beyond. Another mysterious world of pressure.

“Like the hat Mutaz”, I said. It was tall and gray, with the logo “What gravity huh?...” on it.

“Thanks,” he said. “I designed it myself.” Then the earphones went in.

The City Hall, which holds the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, had witnessed a sporting gathering of the good and great as the three finest high jumpers of their generation met ahead of their Bislett Stadium competition, accompanied by the man whose world record they are all within a very few centimetres of surpassing.

They almost did it last year, goading each other on to greater and greater heights. When the hype halted, Russia’s Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov and the Ukraine’s world champion Bohdan Bondarenko had managed 2.42m. Barshim had cleared 2.43, making him the second highest of all time – behind the dude in shades, sneakers and red trousers who still holds the world record of 2.45 from 1993 – Javier Sotomayor.

Cuba’s Soto, Mr Super Cool, listened intently to what the three rising performers had to say about surpassing the mark he set in Salamanca on July 27, 1993. He was encouraging. He was fatalistic. And he couldn’t help but admit that, really, he hoped they’d continue to fail.

“This new generation is a very good generation,” he said. “Having more than one good jumper helps everyone to jump higher. My generation was good too, with people also jumping 2.40. They helped me to jump higher, and this generation can do the same for each other.

“I know that sooner or later my record will be broken. It’s going to happen. It could be tomorrow. No record is forever.

“Last year the jumpers tried and they went very high, they were very close. So it can happen any day. But I would prefer it not to be broken!”

So keen has been the meeting organiser Steinar Hoen – who won the European high jump title in 1994 – to ensure the best possible circumstances for this rich gathering of talent to flourish, that he has traded away the pole vault competition in order to maximise the space and allow the competition to take place closer to the crowd and in the most advantageous position in terms of the wind.

“The best Norwegian high jumper tried it out today,” Hoen told the press conference. “I spoke to him just now, he said it was fantastic to jump in that way.

“You are closer to the public – you have the spectators on the side – it will feel a lot like a high jump gala, like Arnstadt. So we have the best possible conditions and we are hoping for something special tomorrow.”

Pressure. Pressure. But that’s something elite sportsmen and women use like rocket fuel.

Of course, such pressure is not new. Hoen recalled fondly the way in which he and his fellow jumpers would relax after reaching their athletic heights.

“High jumpers were not like sprinters,” he said. “There was nothing like ‘I don’t want to be there if he is coming too.’ We also went out and took some beers together. We used to be friends, and we still are friends. So we would end up sitting in a bar having a beer and a laugh.”

Judging by the sidelong looks and grins between the three younger men during the press conference, that comradeship is still alive within the event.

Ukhov, despite having jumped 2.42, and despite being the Olympic champion, is still something of an also-ran in media terms – the third man, if you like. But would you bet against it being him who finally rose to the Soto challenge? No.

Despite an edgy track record with the press, Ukhov has a subterranean humour which surfaces darkly at times. In response to a question about how high they have jumped in training, Barshim, Bondarenko and indeed Sotomayor all said they didn’t raise the bar high at such times, preferring to work on their technique at lower heights.

Ukhov responded that he jumped between 2.45 and 2.50 in training, but hadn’t yet managed to transfer it to competition. And produced a sly grin.

What, one wondered, did it feel like to jump 2.42, 2.43, 2.45? Was the supreme effort as effortless as striking a football perfectly into the goal?

Four reactions.

From Bondarenko: “I never have any feelings concerning that. Last year when I jumped highest in New York I was thinking ‘I cannot jump well here.’ I understood what I had done only on the next day.”

From Ukhov: “When I jumped 2.42 indoors last season, I really knew I would jump that and at the end of the day I was not satisfied as I felt I could do more.”

From Barshim: “You never can say I know – before you go to jump, you feel confidence, it’s like tunnel vision. You see yourself jumping it before it happens, although it doesn’t mean it will necessarily have to happen. But you take the risk, you put your eyes on the bar and say ‘I’m going to make it’. But then you never can explain the reaction after that.”

From Sotomayor: “When I was jumping well, I was feeling everything going smoothly, everything was perfect.”

Four privileged views of something that remains mysterious, compelling…

Another season of truly thrilling action lies ahead in this event – a vital antidote to the continuous leaking poison of doping allegations and contraventions.

Barshim acknowledged it would be special to break the world record in his Oslo debut with the world record holder looking on.

“With Soto watching, it would be extra special. He don’t want it to be broke – but if it got to happen, it got to happen!”  Grinning broadly at Sotomayor, he added: “If it happen, you’ve got to deal with it. If not, I’ll send you the video some time!”

Who knows – it could yet be a historic piece of footage.